Channel 2 Action News Investigates looked into major contamination in Northwest Georgia.
Some scientists said it’s the worst concentration of forever chemicals they’ve ever seen.
But a new Georgia bill could block families from suing some of the companies they say caused it.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi spoke to the lawmakers trying to give these companies immunity on WSB Tonight at 11.
More and more families in Northwest Georgia are signing up to be part of these lawsuits against carpet companies.
Cities and counties like Calhoun and Gordon County are also suing.
But the PFAS Receiver Shield Act or House Bill 211 could give carpet companies immunity unless you can prove they purposely ignored the risks.
“I don’t think we will ever be made whole,” said Tim Thomason a Whitfield County landowner.
Thomason showed Choi around his 25-acre farm in Dalton where researchers found the second highest concentration of PFAS in Northwest Georgia.
“It came back 137,000 parts per trillion,” said Thomason.
He is part of a growing list of families suing carpet manufacturers and chemical companies in the Dalton area, saying they knew of the dangers stain resistant products posed “but hid them.”
House Bill 211 would protects carpet manufacturers - the largest employer in Dalton, known as the carpet capital of the world.
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter sponsored the bill.
“Lawsuits should focus on the chemical companies because they created the product. They lied to all the carpet manufacturers, told everybody it was safe, and then came back later and said oh, I’m sorry,” said state Rep. Carpenter.
Channel 2 Action News asked carpetmakers including Shaw Industries and Mohawk Industries to respond to the lawsuits.
The only statement we got was from The Carpet and Rug Institute:
“Carpet manufacturers have long led the way in creating products that are safe, sustainable, and beautiful for homes, schools and commercial spaces. CRI member companies do not use PFAS-based soil and stain treatments to produce their carpet products.”
But even if carpet companies used them in the past, the PFAS Receiver Shield Act would “provide for immunity from certain lawsuits related to certain chemicals.”
“Everything’s contaminated, our soil, our creeks, our pond, the dust under our house,” said Sharon Eads, a Gordon County landowner.
Her property is contaminated by forever chemicals that families said carpet manufacturers used.
The Eads’ 22 1/2-acre farm in Resaca tested high for PFAS contamination.
A researcher hired by the families said the PFAS contamination in Northwest Georgia is one of the worst disasters he’s ever seen.
“I think it’s because the concentrations are so high and in such a vast area,” said Bob Bowcock, PFAS Georgia’s Water Resources Manager.
Bowcock said some areas tested 100,00 times the safe level.
“I think those numbers are very wrong,” said State Representative Jason Ridley.
He sponsored an amendment to the bill saying he questions if the contamination is really that bad.
He and State Rep. Carpenter live in Northwest Georgia and said these lawsuits could cost thousands of jobs, taking down whole communities that depend on carpet manufacturing.
“The magnitude of these lawsuits is not just enough for them to leave the state, it would be enough to put them out of business,” said State Rep. Carpenter.
Greg Eads said he is already out of business, no longer able to sell his contaminated cows.
“That ain’t nothing but very expensive pets to feed,” said Greg Eads.
Now he worries about his own health.
“They’re choosing eight people with big industry over thousands that have come down with testicular cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer,” said Greg Eads.
Thomason said it could cost $1 million an acre to clean up the contamination and those responsible should pay.
“It’s sort of like the carpet makers had the luxury of getting insurance after the car wreck. It doesn’t make logical sense,” said Thomason.
This has gotten national attention partly due to Erin Brockovich, who is famous for her work in the 1996 Hinkley, California water contamination case.
She’s now part of the team representing the families who are suing.
Currently, House Bill 211 is stuck in the House Judiciary Committee.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division reports some high PFAS levels in Northwest Georgia, but nowhere near as high as what the legal team for the families suing found.
The EPA sent us this statement:
“The Trump EPA is committed to making sure the great people of Northwest Georgia have the tools they need to combat PFAS contamination and that environmental laws are followed with no exceptions, and we are in coordination with Georgia state authorities to ensure human health and the environment are protected. The Trump EPA continues to pour funding and organizational resources into gold-standard scientific research and action to ensure all Georgians have clean land, air, and water.
“Over $1.5M in federal funds have been awarded to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) to support the northwest Georgia region via the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The ongoing funded project will perform an emerging contaminants pilot study to generate a range of PFAS treatment options and evaluate PFAS removal and waste destruction technologies in wastewater. EPA also provided $54M in federal grant funding to assist six communities in Georgia to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants in drinking water.
“As just one example, GEFA utilized nearly $900K of the this program’s funding from the Trump EPA to address PFAS contaminants in a northwest Georgia community whose drinking water system has been impacted by regional surface water contamination. A pilot study is being conducted to evaluate several PFAS removal technologies, which should inform long term solutions to reduce drinking water exposure risks. The agency recognizes that drinking water and wastewater systems are passive receivers of PFAS, and the Trump EPA is also addressing PFAS at the source.
“Under the first Trump Administration, EPA issued the first-ever comprehensive nationwide PFAS action plan, and combatting PFAS contamination nationwide continues to be a top priority. This historic action continues today under President Trump and Administrator Zeldin’s leadership as the Trump EPA works to Make America Healthy Again and get PFAS out of our water with gold-standard science. Across the county, EPA is actively working to support water systems who are working to reduce PFAS in drinking water. In 2025, the agency announced the PFAS OUTreach Initiative, PFAS OUT, to connect with every public water system known to need system upgrades to address PFAS, including those finding PFOA and PFOS in their water.”
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