Elyria eyes class action lawsuit over toxic firefighting foam

ELYRIA — The city is seeking to join a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturers of firefighting foams that were common for decades before they were linked to cancer. During a meeting of City Council's Finance Committee on Monday night, Law Director Amanda Deery requested Council's permission to retain Avon Lake attorney Brian Balser to represent the city in a lawsuit. The committee unanimously voted in favor of the request, which will go before Council as a whole for approval. A number of federal class action lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of aqueous film forming foams, or AFFFs, which were used for decades by firefighters throughout the country. The foams contained perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, called PFAs, which are toxic chemicals that have since been linked to various forms of cancer, developmental disorders and immune system issues, according to the Environment Protection Agency. Elyria Fire Chief Joe Pronesti confirmed that the Elyria Fire Department used AFFFs which contained the chemicals in question for more than 50 years, only removing them from service when their negative health effects became widely known in the early 2010s. "Up until the last couple of years we utilized this foam," Pronesti said. "Until the lawsuits and the health concerns came out, nobody knew." Pronesti said the largest single use of the problematic firefighting foams at one time was at a fire in August of 2010 at United Initiators on Garden Street. During that fire, a skimming system that separated flammable chemicals from water caught fire and the department used AFFFs to snuff out the flame. "We utilized foam, applied it onto those skimming tanks to suppress the vapors and the fire," Pronesti said. "But it took hundreds and hundreds of gallons of foam to do it. That's probably in my career the most we've used and probably I would say the most we've used since we started carrying AFFF 50 (or) 60 years ago." Pronesti said that firefighting foams are used to cut off oxygen from reaching a flammable surface, such as a chemical or oil spill that has caught fire. "It creates a cover, if you will, basically a blanket and we have used it for flammable liquid spills like large gasoline spills," he said. Elyria fire still uses AFFFs, but only new formulas that do not contain the harmful PFA chemicals. Pronesti said the change began shortly after he became chief. As far as the effect of toxic foams on his firefighters, Pronesti said it is hard to pin down how many were made sick by PFAs due to the myriad other hazards firefighters face. "As far as anyone getting sick related to it, all I'll tell you is that cancer is one of the top killers of firemen around the country," Pronesti said. "It's just one more issue, it's so difficult to pinpoint. We have had many members who have had cancer and have passed from cancer, but you just don't know how many things contributed to that." It is unclear how much money Elyria could be entitled to based on its use of its use of AFFFs containing toxic chemicals. Deery's proposal to Council would pay Balser on contingency, meaning he will only be paid if the city is awarded money from the class action. Balser has represented the city in class action lawsuits in the past regarding insulin price hikes and opioid distribution. Deery said that Balser's contingency rate for the firefighting foam case has not been established, but that in the past he had been paid 24 percent of what the city was awarded. The city originally learned about ongoing class action lawsuits when a Florida-based law firm reached out to Mayor Kevin Brubaker, Deery said. "I do think we should have some serious conversation if we win this money, it should go to the fire department," Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, D-3rd Ward, said. Deery said that it was likely any potential settlement would require the money the city received be spent in a certain way, such as how money received through the city's opioid class action lawsuit was limited to law enforcement or drug rehabilitation purposes. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.