Pennsylvania Family Notifies Federal Government of Intent to Sue, Claims Navy's Contamination of Water Endangers Health, Demands Health Testing

PHILADELPHIA, June 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys representing a Warrington, Pennsylvania family have sent an "intent to sue" notice to the U.S. Navy and federal government claiming they are responsible for water contamination endangering the family's health and the environment. They demand biomonitoring and a health assessment to evaluate the impact of this contamination on their community.

"The mission of the U.S. Navy is to protect the American people," says attorney Mark Cuker of Williams Cuker Berezofsky, the Philadelphia law firm representing the family. "We're calling on the Navy to provide blood testing and medical monitoring to protect these citizens from the dangers of this toxic exposure."

View video of Attorney Cuker describing the chemicals the family alleges have caused the contamination: https://youtu.be/2DujMwjx12M

In their notice, the Giovanni family, who live about 300 yards from the Navy's former Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NASJRB) facility, asserts the Navy's decades of improper disposal of toxic waste at the Willow Grove base and former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Warminster has contaminated their water and that of their neighbors in Warrington, Warminster and Horsham Townships.

The family of five says they drank, cooked, and brushed their teeth with water from their private well for eleven years. In late 2014 following EPA testing, they learned it contained dangerous levels of PFCs (perfluorochemical compounds), specifically PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), more than forty times the EPA's health advisory level.  The family was provided bottled water for six months and then connected to the Warrington public water supply, only to discover two months later that Warrington's supply was also contaminated with unsafe levels of PFCs.

"The drinking water and health of nearly 70,000 current residents, and untold numbers of past residents, to say nothing of workers at the facilities themselves, has been jeopardized," says Cuker. "People have been exposed to PFCs from both private and public water supplies."

According to the EPA, "PFOA and PFOS pose potential adverse effects for the environment and human health, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, pregnancy induced hypertension, high cholesterol, among other diseases."

The intent to sue gives 60 days advance notice, requesting the government agree to conduct health monitoring.  If no agreement is reached within 60 days, Cuker's law firm plans to file lawsuits on behalf of the Giovannis and residents of the other Bucks County/Montgomery County townships.

Lawsuits would be filed under the U.S. Resource Conservation Recovery Act for biomonitoring and health assessment, and under the Pennsylvania Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act for medical monitoring, a health effects study, and civil penalties for the public water contamination.

Residents sounding the alarm in the three townships are not alone. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has called for the Department of Defense "to take all necessary action to … fully evaluate the health consequences and provide ongoing biomonitoring to residents and military personnel who have been exposed to the water contamination."

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has also asked for biomonitoring and blood testing for persons exposed to the water "but the calls have been either rejected or ignored."

About Williams Cuker Berezofsky
Williams Cuker Berezofsky is committed to protecting citizens affected by environmental toxic contamination at home and work. The firm's additional litigation and practice areas: civil rights of individuals including those claiming police brutality and government abuse, consumer protection from defective products and harmful pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices, abusive lending practices and predatory or fraudulent mortgages, and workers in workplace safety accidents involving toxic and chemical exposure.

Founded in 1985 with offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the firm represents clients locally and nationally. Contact the firm at 215-557-0099 and [email protected]. Visit and view video at www.wcblegal.com.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DujMwjx12M

SOURCE Williams Cuker Berezofsky

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