NEW MILFORD, Connecticut (From news reports) -- A new lawsuit is accusing the Kimberly-Clark Corp., a producer of paper goods for household brands such as Huggies, Kleenex and Scott, of contaminating local water sources, including the Housatonic River, with dangerous "forever chemicals" over the course of decades.
The lawsuit was filed Oct. 14 by Silver Golub & Teitell on behalf of Minah McBreairty, whose property on Kent Road in New Milford sits directly across from a 165-acre, unlined landfill operated by Kimberly-Clark from 1969 to 2010.
The landfill, the lawsuit says, was used to dispose of manufacturing waste from Kimberly-Clark's New Milford facility, which produced Huggies diapers from the late 1970s to 2004 and continues to produce Kleenex tissues.
The suit claims testing done in April 2024 revealed that drinking water from McBreairty's well contained high levels of PFOS and PFOA, two of the most hazardous types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The PFOS concentration of 8.74 nanograms per liter and PFOA concentration of 4.83 nanograms per liter far exceeded maximum levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that additional testing in May and August 2024 of water runoff from the Kimberly-Clark landfill detected PFOS at concentrations up to 31.2 nanograms per liter and PFOA at 9.33 nanograms per liter, contaminated water that flows directly into the Housatonic River.
"No one should have to live with contaminated drinking water because a corporation chooses profit over environmental responsibility," said attorney Ian Sloss, who represents McBreairty.
A company spokesperson denied the allegations made in the lawsuit, saying the company does "not use PFAS in any of our U.S. consumer products."
"At Kimberly-Clark, we care deeply about our consumers, our employees, and the communities where we operate," the spokesperson said. "We have rigorous safety and quality requirements and adhere to all regulatory and legal requirements."
The town of New Milford and the New Milford Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission also are named as defendants in the case. The lawsuit alleges McBreairty brought her concerns to local authorities in February 2025, but they refused to investigate, citing limited resources.
Town officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
PFAS are commonly used and long-lasting chemicals found in numerous consumer products that have been increasingly detected in drinking water, air and fish. PFAS often are referred to as "forever chemicals" due to the slow rate at which they break down.
Experts say drinking water contaminated with PFAS is not immediately dangerous but carries risk of long-term effects. Exposure has been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease, liver damage, immune system suppression and developmental harm in children.
The complaint alleges that Kimberly-Clark used PFOS, PFOA and related chemicals in its manufacturing processes to provide liquid repellency and wet strength to diapers and tissues. Laboratory testing of vintage Huggies diapers and Kleenex products bought on eBay confirmed the presence of PFAS compounds, supporting allegations that contaminated manufacturing waste was disposed of in the landfill, according to the suit.
The lawsuit cites Kimberly-Clark patents dating to the 1970s that explicitly reference PFAS-containing products manufactured by 3M and DuPont.
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that by 2000, Kimberly-Clark knew these chemicals posed serious environmental and health risks, yet took no steps to address contamination already released in New Milford.
Last year, Silver Golub & Teitell filed a similar class-action lawsuit against Kimberly-Clark, claiming the manufacturer's practices exposed plaintiffs' drinking water to toxic chemicals. That lawsuit claimed Kimberly-Clark's manufacturing practices caused stack emissions containing PFAS "to go airborne, travel and ultimately deposit PFAS Chemicals" on people's properties and drinking water wells, contaminating the soil and drinking water wells, according to the lawsuit.
The original lawsuit sought $5 million in damages as well as a medical monitoring program that would allow for early detection and "prompt and effective treatment of any serious disease, illness or injury caused by PFAS exposure," the lawsuit stated. The plaintiffs requested medical monitoring be awarded "as a form of relief in connection with their remaining claims" if a standalone claim for medical monitoring couldn't be maintained, the lawsuit stated.
The plaintiffs also are asking Kimberly-Clark to install PFAS filtration systems at the New Milford facility.
The company's spokesperson said they "believe both cases should be dismissed."
"We will continue to defend these lawsuits to ensure we maintain the trust our consumers have in our products and our company," the spokesperson said.
