AFFF Firefoam PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuit

Published: June 25, 2025 · Updated: July 2, 2026

▼ Investigation · Allegations Only

This article describes an ongoing investigation and PFAS-related litigation. The statements below are unproven allegations. This page is informational and is not legal or medical advice. Eligibility and any recovery would depend on the facts of an individual case.

Status Active Litigation · MDL 2873 15,000+ personal-injury claims pending in the federal AFFF MDL (D.S.C.) as of June 2026

Bellwether Trial No Date Set the first kidney-cancer bellwether (Oct 2025) was vacated; no new personal-injury trial date yet

Who May Be Affected Base residents & workers people who lived or worked within ~1 mile of an affected base and were later diagnosed

Estimated Payout Varies depends on diagnosis, exposure, and the facts of each case

Proof Required Yes proof of residence/work near a base and a qualifying diagnosis

What Is This About?

If you lived or worked at or near a military, naval, or army base, you may have been exposed to PFAS through water contamination. Hundreds of military sites have now been found to have PFAS in their drinking water or groundwater, typically from the use of firefoam — aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) commonly used as a fire suppressant. If you or a loved one were diagnosed with cancer or another qualifying illness after being exposed to PFAS through AFFF, you may have a claim.

PFAS have been found to have contaminated some drinking water supplies. PFAS can also be found in numerous everyday products such as nonstick cookware, clothing, cosmetics, and the foams used by firefighters to put out fuel fires. Certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are understood to be dangerous to health, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). PFAS (fluorinated surfactants) are also one of the key ingredients in Class B fluorinated foams used in fire suppression systems.

PFAS have been associated with cancer, suppressed immune function, interference with normal hormone and thyroid function, and reproductive harm. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that millions of Americans may have had exposure to PFAS, though often at relatively low concentrations.

Where the AFFF Personal-Injury Litigation Stands in 2026 (MDL 2873)

The federal AFFF personal-injury lawsuits are consolidated in MDL No. 2873, In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina before Judge Richard M. Gergel. As of June 2026, roughly 15,000+ claims were pending in the MDL, making it one of the largest active mass torts in the federal system.

The first personal-injury bellwether trial — a kidney cancer case that would have been the first U.S. trial over alleged PFAS personal injuries — had been set for October 20, 2025, but the court vacated that trial date after a court-ordered filing window (Case Management Order No. 35) brought a surge of thousands of new case filings that needed to be processed and documented. As of this update, no new personal-injury bellwether trial date has been placed on the calendar.

Instead, the litigation's center of gravity has shifted toward resolution: the parties have been working with a court-appointed special master on a claim-valuation framework for personal-injury claims, and Judge Gergel has publicly pressed the defendant manufacturers to resolve the personal-injury docket. No personal-injury settlement has been announced, no settlement fund exists, and there is nothing to claim yet — reports of settlement "talks" or "matrices" are about a process that has not produced a program.

Water-Utility Settlements Are Not Personal-Injury Payouts

You may have seen headlines about multibillion-dollar AFFF settlements. Those settlements — including 3M's public water systems settlement (valued at up to roughly $12.5 billion), DuPont/Chemours/Corteva's $1.185 billion water-provider settlement, Tyco Fire Products' $750 million settlement, and BASF's $316.5 million settlement — resolve claims by public water systems for the cost of testing and treating PFAS-contaminated drinking water. They do not pay individuals, and they do not resolve the personal-injury claims described on this page. The personal-injury track (cancer and other illness claims by individuals) remains unresolved and is the part of MDL 2873 still being litigated.

PFAS Class Action Settlements

A number of smaller consumer PFAS-related class actions have already resolved. These are separate from the military-base AFFF personal-injury investigation, but they show how PFAS claims have been handled:

• $5,000,000 3M PFAS Settlement — In 2022, 3M Company resolved a PFAS class action for a $5,000,000 fund over allegations it had polluted soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, air, and fish by discharging certain PFAS substances.

• $5,000,000 Thinx Underwear PFAS Settlement — In 2023, Thinx resolved a class action over allegations that some of its underwear may have contained PFAS chemicals.

• $1.4M Period Underwear PFAS Class Action Settlement — In 2024, Knix resolved a $1,400,000 class action over allegations that its products contained synthetic PFAS substances.

How Do I Qualify?

To pursue most PFAS-related legal claims or medical-monitoring programs, you typically need to meet both of the following criteria.

Location: You generally need to have lived within roughly one mile of one of the following military bases, where PFAS contamination has been documented:

Military Bases
Fort Benning	Fort Rucker	Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base
Eareckson Air Force Base	Fort Wainwright	Galena Air Force Station
Camp Navajo	Silver Bell Army Heliport	Castle Air Force Base
Crows NALF	Fort Ord	George Air Force Base
Joint Force Training Base – Los Alamitos	Marine Corps Logistics Base – Barstow	March Air Force Base
Mather Air Force Base	McClellan Air Force Base	Norton Air Force Base
Parks Reserve Forces Training Area	Sharpe Army Depot	Travis Air Force Base
Buckley Air Force Base	Lowry Air Force Base	Schriever Air Force Base
Corry Station	Eglin Air Force Base	Marianna Readiness Center
Naval Air Station Cecil Field	Ocala Readiness Center	Patrick Air Force Base
Saufley Field	Air Force Plant 6	Fort Benning
Fort Gordon	Gillem Annex	Moody Air Force Base
Robins Air Force Base	Guam U.S. Naval Activities	Great Lakes Naval Station
Rock Island Arsenal	Scott Air Force Base	Terre Haute National Guard Site
Iowa Army Ammunition Plant	Fort Leavenworth	Fort Campbell
Barksdale Air Force Base	Bangor Training Site	Brunswick Naval Air Station
Loring Air Force Base	Fort Detrick	Gunpowder Military Reservation
Fort Devens	Natick Soldier Systems Center	Naval Air Station South Weymouth
Camp Grayling	KI Sawyer Air Force Base	Wurtsmith Air Force Base (former)
Naval Air Station Meridian	Fort Leonard Wood	Whiteman Air Force Base
Naval Air Station Fallon	New Hampshire National Guard Training Site – Strafford	Pease Air Force Base
Picatinny Arsenal	Trenton NAWC-AD	Holloman Air Force Base
Camp Smith	Fort Drum	Plattsburgh Air Force Base
Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty)	Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point	Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Camp Grafton	Newark Air Force Base	Altus Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base	North Penn BRAC	Tobyhanna Army Depot
Warminster NAWC AD	Willow Grove NASJRB	Muñiz Air National Guard Base
Coventry Training Site	North Smithfield	Fort Jackson
Ellsworth Air Force Base	Fort Campbell	Holston Army Ammunition Plant
Dyess Air Force Base	Fort Bliss	Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland Air Force Base
Joint Base San Antonio - Randolph Air Force Base	Reese Air Force Base	Camp Ethan Allen Training Site
Langley-Eustis Joint Base	Vint Hill Farms	Fairchild Air Force Base
Joint Base Lewis-McChord	Naval Air Station Whidbey Island	Yakima Training Center

Diagnosis: You (or your loved one) generally must have been diagnosed after January 1, 2000 with a qualifying medical condition associated with PFAS exposure. Qualifying conditions may include:

• Testicular cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Thyroid disease
• Ulcerative colitis

What Are the Hazards of PFAS?

Researchers have associated PFAS exposure with a range of potential health effects, including:

• Reproductive health effects
• Increased blood pressure in pregnant women
• Decreased fertility
• Low birth weight in children
• Developmental delays in children
• Accelerated puberty
• Variations in bone density
• Increased risk of liver, kidney, and testicular cancers, and ulcerative colitis
• Reduced immune response, including reduced ability to fight infections
• Reduced vaccine response
• Interference with the body's natural hormone processes
• Increased cholesterol levels
• Increased risk of obesity

If you or a loved one were exposed to PFAS and you believe your health was affected, consult a qualified medical professional about your symptoms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is AFFF and why is it linked to PFAS?

AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) is a Class B firefighting foam used for decades to suppress fuel fires, including at military bases. PFAS chemicals such as PFOA and PFOS are key ingredients in the foam and do not break down in the environment, so repeated use has contaminated soil, groundwater, and drinking water at and near many bases.

Who may qualify for a PFAS exposure claim?

People who lived or worked at or near a military base with documented PFAS contamination and were later diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition associated with PFAS exposure may qualify. Eligibility depends on the location, the duration of exposure, and the specific diagnosis.

What medical conditions are associated with PFAS exposure?

Conditions associated with PFAS exposure may include testicular cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, thyroid disease, and ulcerative colitis, among other health effects studied by the EPA and public-health researchers.

Is there a settlement or anything to claim yet?

Not for personal-injury claims. The multibillion-dollar AFFF settlements announced by 3M, DuPont, Tyco, and BASF resolve claims by public water systems for water testing and treatment — they do not pay individuals. As of mid-2026, no personal-injury settlement program or fund exists in MDL 2873, and there is no claim form. Eligibility and any recovery would depend on the facts of an individual case.

Sources

• U.S. EPA — Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS
• U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina — MDL 2873 (AFFF Products Liability Litigation)
• JPML — Pending MDL dockets by district, June 1, 2026 (PDF)
• Bloomberg Law — First US trial over PFAS injuries to focus on kidney cancer

Important Disclosures

Information on OpenClassActions.com is for general informational purposes and does not constitute medical or legal advice. You should consult a qualified attorney about your individual situation and a medical professional about your health. This page does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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