Village of Homer Trustees Listens PFAS Testing Offer – Village Could Join Settlement Suit

The Homer Village Board of Trustees listened to a pitch from attorney Jerry King of the Robert King Law Firm based out of Rochester, NY on Tuesday evening during their second meeting of the month. King spoke on ongoing litigation his law firm has worked on with 40 other municipalities regarding PFAS, also known as forever chemicals.

PFAS are a family of synthetic chemicals which are used to repel heat, oil, and water. These types of chemicals were originally found in firefighting foam produced by major chemical companies such as 3M and Dupont, King says. King spoke about the possibility of contamination of PFAS in water supplies noting that testing led by his law firm has found contamination ranging, on average, between 1 and 2 parts per-trillion. He added the large chemical companies have agreed on a $14 billion dollar settlement as a result.

King says the Village of Homer may have an opportunity to be part of the $14 billion dollar settlement if any type of contamination is found in the water supply. He added in other municipalities he works with in Upstate New York contamination has been very limited, but entitled those municipalities to part of the settlement.

When asked how much the village could receive, King says the village could get around $100,000, which would be at their discretion and not written specifically for water quality. King says his law firm would front the money to the village for the water testing and says his law firm will not get paid until the village gets paid. A timeline on when the village would, if the village elects to do so, would be sometime in 2027. King says so far, about 20 municipalities have received a check. 

Village Attorney Fran Casullo says he has already spoken with King on the details and said to the Board of Trustees if they’re interested in the testing to find out if they could be entitled to a settlement, that King can send over the contract for review.