A state legislative proposal that could shield northwest Georgia carpet companies from a barrage of lawsuits claiming they contaminated the environment passed a committee on Monday, bringing the bill a step closer to a full house vote.
House Bill 211 sputtered to a halt last year after legislators heard from a steady stream of lawyers and residents who said the law would let industry off the hook for the region’s broad contamination from PFAS chemicals used to make carpets stain-resistant. Such a turnout was absent this time as the legislation sailed through with little notice and fanfare.
State Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, said even members of the committee didn’t know the bill would come up for discussion. She called the move “disturbing” for legislation of such magnitude and said it represented an “end-run around people.”
“There was a crowd last time, and obviously, there’s no crowd today because no one knew,” Evans said after the hearing.
Lead sponsor — State Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton — said the bill faces an uphill climb but says passage was a crucial step.
“Getting it out of committee was important,” Carpenter said.
The passage comes as carpet companies face down numerous lawsuits from municipalities, residents and others who accuse the industry of contaminating their properties and drinking water with PFAS, a catch-all term for a class of synthetic compounds. The battle over PFAS contamination in Georgia has primarily centered on the state’s northwest corridor, including Dalton, which is known as the “carpet capital of the world.”
Carpet makers used certain PFAS to make stain- and soil-resistant carpet for decades. Some of those compounds have since been linked to health effects such as certain cancers, thyroid disease and immune system issues. Testing has found these so-called “forever chemicals” at high levels in the region’s water, soil and people.
A yearlong collaborative investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Associated Press and other newsrooms found the region’s largest carpet companies, Shaw Industries and Mohawk Industries Inc., used stain-resistant PFAS chemicals for years despite growing concerns about health effects. The companies have previously said their chemical suppliers assured them their products were safe and that they ceased using PFAS in U.S. carpet production in 2019. Shaw and Mohawk did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
The legislation would classify carpet manufacturers, municipalities and others as so-called “PFAS receivers” and shield them from liability in PFAS litigation. The bill would not protect chemical manufacturers and therefore not shut the door on future lawsuits against companies that manufactured the chemicals, such as 3M and DuPont.
In 2023, Shaw and Mohawk settled a PFAS lawsuit brought by the city of Rome for $65 million and $42.5 million, respectively. Neither admitted liability. Rome filed the lawsuit in 2019, alleging it would cost $100 million to build a new treatment plant able to filter the chemicals out of the city’s drinking water.
Immunity would not be granted to receivers who are found to have acted with “gross negligence,” defined as an “intentional, deliberate action, with a reckless disregard of consequences.”
April Lipscomb, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said this standard is much greater than what plaintiffs in northwest Georgia have typically had to prove in litigation so far.
“Gross negligence puts an incredibly high burden on plaintiffs,” Lipscomb said.
- AJC reporter Thad Moore contributed reporting to this story.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
