Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico has been designated by plaintiffs in a multidistrict case as the representative site they will use to allege the federal government is liable for damage caused by PFAS.

The Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in In re AFFF Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2:18-mn-2873-RMG told the US District Court for the District of South Carolina in Charleston on April 28 that it has selected Cannon Air Force Base to serve as the designated site for fact discovery and supplemental briefing.

The plaintiffs plan to oppose the federal government’s claim that the court has no jurisdiction over cases that assert the government is liable for property and other damages caused by its use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), a fire suppressant that contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The US presented its jurisdictional defenses and argued it’s immune from liability in a statement filed last September.

The US asserts that federal agencies didn’t violate any law or mandatory and specific directives when they chose to use AFFF and deal with contamination from it.

Under a schedule US District Judge Richard Mark Gergel released in April, the plaintiffs and federal government will make their claims, discovery, and file motions by May 16, 2024.

Cannon Air Force Base will allow plaintiffs to present damage claims made by New Mexico and four dairies, the plaintiffs said in their April 28 letter notifying the judge of the site’s selection.

The dairies are the Dorene Dairy General Partnership, Highland Dairy, Day Star Dairy, and Rajen Dairy, which had thousands of cows and allege their properties and businesses were significantly damaged by water their farms used that was contaminated by AFFF.

Highland Dairy owner Art Schaap watched his cows slowly die for more than three years before the federal government paid him for the animals. That helped spur Congress to require the Department of Defense to notify farms within one mile of military or National Guard sites when the water the farms use has been contaminated with PFAS.