The U.S. state of Maryland is suing the makers of Gore-Tex, a popular product used by clothing companies to waterproof clothing, claiming they knew for decades of the potential risks to public drinking water near manufacturing facilities that utilized PFAS compounds.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, who filed the lawsuit against Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates (Gore) in December 2024, alleges that the company contributed to PFAS contamination through its use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), including Teflon-branded PTFE.
“Gore continued to knowingly emit perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into the air and water without protecting the surrounding communities, causing widespread contamination of drinking water and the State’s natural resources, including surface water, groundwater, soils, sediments, plant, and animal life,” states a press release from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set an enforceable drinking water standard for PFOA of 4 parts per trillion.
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The Maryland Department of the Environment has been actively engaged in assessing PFAS contamination near Gore’s 13 operations in the Elkton, Cecil County area, including providing sampling of residents’ private drinking water wells.
The state lawsuit notes that Gore sourced PTFE from E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) and Chemours Company — two PFAS manufacturers already facing lawsuits from Maryland.
Maryland officials point to DuPont documents from the 1990s which identify Gore as a customer interested in alternatives to PFOA, suggesting that the company was aware of the health risks.
The lawsuit cites violations of both the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Maryland environmental law. The state seeks broad relief from Gore, including recovery of the costs of investigating the scope of contamination; the costs of drinking water testing, monitoring, and treatment; the costs to remediate the contamination; and damages for harm to state-owned land and resources.
“PFAS are linked to cancer, weakened immune systems, and can even harm the ability to bear children,” announced Attorney General Brown. “It is unacceptable for any company to knowingly contaminate our drinking water with these toxins, putting Marylanders at risk of severe health conditions. Our office will not tolerate companies that put profits ahead of the health and safety of Maryland families.”
On the company’s end, Gore launched a website called Gore Forward to defend its position in response to recent litigation. Company officials state that they have had “continuous, proactive engagement with the Maryland regulators” since learning two years ago about the presence of PFOA in groundwater near its Cherry Hill facility, and “does not now and never has manufactured PFOA.”
The company says it was “surprised” by the state’s legal action.
“We have been working with Maryland, employing the most current, reliable science and technology to assess the potential impact of our operations and guide our ongoing, collaborative efforts to protect the environment,” Gore announced in a December 2024 statement.
Gore also states that it has committed millions of dollars to investigate the potential presence of PFOA in groundwater near several Maryland facilities. It says it has sampled more than 90 residential wells in the areas identified in the plans submitted to the Maryland Department of the Environment. A majority of the results came back less than 20 parts per trillion, the company reports.
