Aqua Pennsylvania has filed a federal lawsuit against a King of Prussia-based chemical manufacturer, accusing the company of negligence for contaminating a creek used as part of a network of waterways that supply thousands of people in Delaware and Chester counties with drinking water. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, says that the waterway, part of the Goose Creek watershed, showed “significant contamination” from a class of human-made compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when tested downstream of Arkema Inc.’s plant on Bolmar Street in West Chester. PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment and in humans. Aqua says in the suit that it serves about 16,000 customers with drinking water from the watershed contaminated by PFAS. Aqua pulls from the watershed to supply customers in Delaware County and a small portion in Chester County. Communities served include Media, Rose Valley, Middletown, Upper Providence, Nether Providence, Chester Heights, Aston, Marple and Ridley townships. The lawsuit does not specify whether PFAS ever reached those customers. It says that PFAS got into its main system, which draws from rivers, creeks and wells.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 3/5/2025