The summons filed in Chautauqua County Supreme Court on Friday, September 9 cited the desire to recover damages for the contamination of wells supplying the Village’s public water-supply system. The summons said the contamination was caused use of by aqueous film forming foam during certain training exercises held in the Village.

In February 2021, then County Health Department Water specialist Bill Boria reported to the village board that a state investigation said the fire training foam that was used near the former Mayville school between 2014 and 2018 appeared to have leached into the village water supply. He said this resulted in the high levels of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) being discovered in three of the village’s water wells.

The discovery led to a do-not-drink advisory being issued for two weeks in December 2020 and ultimately forced the village to shut down one of the wells.

After the old well was shut down in December, the village brought online the new Well #4 located in a different aquifer that did not contain any PFNA.

Boria said that lab testing on animals has shown that high doses of PFNA have caused adverse effects on the liver, thyroid, and immune system, and also contributes to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. There’s also some evidence that it delays growth and development.

Boria added that because the fire training was only done during a five-year period, it’s unlikely there was a legacy contamination, meaning residents weren’t exposed for a significant period of time.

The chemicals that were used in firefighting foam, which caused the higher PFNA, have since been removed and are no longer used today.

The Village had previously filed a suit against 3M for contaminating the municipalities water supply in Jun 2021, but that filing was removed in July 2021.