Stella property owners file PFAS lawsuit against Rhinelander paper mill, 3M

A group of property owners in the Town of Stella have filed a federal lawsuit against Ahlstrom Rhinelander LLC and 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. related to alleged drinking water contamination and are asking a judge to certify the matter as a class action.

The suit, filed Aug. 9 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, alleges that the application of waste from the Rhinelander paper mill — owned and operated by Ahlstrom Munksjö — onto farmland in Oneida County caused extensive contamination of private well water.

“Over the course of decades, Defendant Ahlstrom and its predecessors disposed of millions of pounds of waste from the Rhinelander Paper Mill by dumping and spreading the waste on farmland throughout Oneida County, and specifically in the Town of Stella,” the 35-page complaint reads. 

“Upon information and belief, this waste contained high levels of PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS. It was this ‘land application’ of waste that caused Plaintiffs’ wells to be among the most contaminated in the country for PFAS. In addition to Defendant Ahlstrom — which owns and operates the Rhinelander Paper Mill — plaintiffs also bring this action against Defendant 3M, which sold and supplied PFAS chemicals to the Ahlstrom facility,” the complaint states.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of human-made chemicals used for decades in numerous products, including non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays and certain types of firefighting foam. These contaminants have made their way into the environment through accidental spills of PFAS-containing materials, discharges of PFAS-containing wastewater to treatment plants and certain types of firefighting foams, according to the DNR. These chemicals are known to accumulate in the human body, posing several risks to human health including certain cancers, liver damage and decreased fertility. 

Stella is a small township located in eastern Oneida County approximately 11 miles from Rhinelander.

PFAS contamination in some wells in Stella was discovered late last year as part of an ongoing statewide testing project led by the Department of Natural Resources.

DNR officials are scheduled to be in Stella this evening to provide an update on the PFAS investigation. That meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Stella Town Hall.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs say the goal of the lawsuit is accountability.

“For years, Ahlstrom and its predecessors dumped millions of pounds of waste containing hazardous chemicals on farmland throughout the Town of Stella and Oneida County. The company that sold and manufactured the products knew they were toxic and could cause contamination, but they chose to value profits over safety and clean water,” Brett Land, an attorney and shareholder with Baron & Budd P.C., the Dallas-based law firm that filed the suit, said in a BusinessWire press release announcing the litigation. “We are doing our part to hold them accountable for the damages they have caused to families and communities across the state.”

A Louisiana law firm and Crooks Law Firm S.C. of Wausau are also representing the plaintiffs.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are seeking “to recover compensatory and all other damages, including but not limited to the costs of restoring and remediating contamination from their real properties and drinking water wells, costs of treating water, costs of acquiring bottled water, non-economic damages, loss of earnings and future earnings, damages for loss of use and enjoyment, lost property value, and household expenses, among others.”

“At all relevant times, upon information and belief, Defendant Ahlstrom and its predecessors knew or should have known about the inherent risks and dangers involved in applying PFAS-containing waste on farmlands. And at all relevant times, Defendant 3M knew or should have known about the inherent risks and dangers involved in the use of PFAS compounds in products sold to other companies, like Ahlstrom — including that both PFOA and PFOS are mobile in water, not easily biodegradable, highly persistent in the environment, and present significant and unreasonable risks to both human health and the environment,” the complaint alleges. “Nevertheless, Defendants made a conscious choice to manufacture, market, sell, and dispose of PFAS products and waste in a way that caused harm to Plaintiffs.”

The defendants have 21 days to respond to the suit, which was brought by named plaintiffs Lucas and Alisha Rougeau, Carrie and Kerry Brenton and Timothy and Melissa Gerdmann. 

Other class members may be added as the litigation proceeds. The complaint notes there are over 100 “putative Class Members.”

A putative class action is a lawsuit filed by one or more named plaintiffs on behalf of multiple people sharing a similar claim. Lawsuits are not class actions until a court certifies them.

Addie Teeters, head of marketing communications and public affairs for Ahlstrom-Munksjo, offered the following statement Friday in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

“It is Ahlstrom’s policy not to comment in detail on open litigation. While we are still reviewing the complaint, it appears to focus on activities that are alleged to have occurred prior to Ahlstrom’s acquisition of the Mill in 2018.”

The River News expects to publish additional information about the lawsuit in the near future.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].