Companies Wausau is suing over PFAS in the city’s wells argue the city shares the blame, pointing to Wausau’s own claim that fire department foam caused the contamination.
In a 2023 lawsuit against manufacturers of firefighting foam, Wausau alleged that PFAS contamination of the city’s wells “is a direct and proximate result of fire protection, training, and response activities” at the Wausau Fire Department.
Georgia-Pacific, TriMas, Brokaw Holdings, TerX Shredding & Recycling, and Wausau Paper with two related Essity companies all quoted that language in counterclaims filed Aug. 1, 2025, in the city’s separate lawsuit against local industries. Georgia-Pacific asked the court, if the company is found liable at all, to assign “most, if not all,” of the cleanup costs to the city because of what the company called the city’s “self-admitted primary role in causing the contamination.”…