Two class-action lawsuits have been filed by area law firms on behalf of residents against firefighting foam manufacturers due to water contamination in the Horsham and Warminster areas.

Norristown-based Creedon and Feliciani, along with Philadelphia-based Levin, Fishbein, Sedran, & Berman have announced that the suits will be filed on behalf of 14 residents of Montgomery and Bucks counties against the manufacturers of firefighting foams.

The foams contained dangerous levels of chemicals called PFOA and PFOS, which leaked into the groundwater and allegedly caused various medical issues. The contamination occurred at two military bases: Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove and Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster.

In September, a lawsuit was also filed by the Erin Brockovitch-backed law firm Weitz and Luxenberg . According to The Intelligencer , the three suits are closely related in their charges and could be tried together in court.

“For years, residents living near military bases in eastern Pennsylvania were unknowingly exposed to dangerous chemicals in their drinking water,” Robin Greenwald, head of the Environmental and Consumer Protection Unit at Weitz and Luxenberg said in a statement. “With this lawsuit, we are fighting to ensure that the companies who manufactured and marketed products containing these chemicals – and put their profits ahead of public health in the process – are brought to justice for their wrongdoing.”

Creedon and Feliciani said that they will demand damages for a variety of issues, including: medical monitoring, including blood testing, installment of permanent filtration devices on private wells, remediation of property contaminated with PFOA and PFOS, payment for water filtration systems for private well owners, and compensatory damages including payment of increased water bills.

Because it is a class action suit, it includes all individuals who own or occupy residential properties in the areas that were affected. Those areas include Horsham, Warminster, Hatboro, Warrington, and Ivyland. It also includes military and civilian personnel who served or worked at the two impacted bases.

The foam was created by numerous companies, including the 3M Company (formerly known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.), Angus Fire, The Ansul Company, Buckeye Fire Protection Company; Chemguard, and National Foam. All are named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuits state, with differing language, that producers of the foams should have essentially known that inclusion of PFOS and PFOA could pose a major risk to the environment and human health. Companies did not warn about this potential for harm.