A Hillsborough County Superior Court jury has ordered Textiles Coated International to pay more than 200 Amherst homeowners $4.36 million for diminished property values, finding the company liable for negligence, negligent failure to warn, trespass and nuisance tied to PFOA contamination that fouled private wells near its former manufacturing plant.
The verdict, reported by the New Hampshire Union Leader, caps a trial that began with jury selection on October 19 and lasted three weeks before Judge Amy Messer. Jurors found that more than 200 residential homeowners suffered a loss in property value, though the fight is not entirely over — additional proceedings on noneconomic damages are still to come, according to the same report.
A Decade of Contamination Dating Back to the 1980s
TCI operated a manufacturing facility at 105 Route 101A in Amherst from roughly 1985 to 2006, using chemicals containing ammonium perfluorooctanoate, a form of PFOA, according to a press release from Singleton Schreiber. The company makes high-performance fluoropolymer films, laminates and composites, per its company website.
The trouble surfaced in 2016, when the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services found PFOA contamination in private wells near the Amherst site and began advising residents to use bottled water. Testing that year of 11 wells within a mile of the former plant showed PFOA levels ranging from non-detect to 620 parts per trillion, with four results exceeding 100 parts per trillion, according to the PFAS Project Lab. Around the same time, NHPR reported that state officials said the contamination likely originated at the former Textiles Coated International plant.
Homeowners Sued, Then Waited Years for Their Day in Court
Amherst homeowners filed a class action lawsuit against TCI in 2017, claiming the company released toxic emissions into the area's air, soil, surface water and groundwater. The case, Hermens et al. v. Textiles Coated Incorporated, wound through the courts for years before the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in May 2025 that the plaintiffs' property-damage claims could proceed, the Union Leader's report notes. In court papers, TCI officials had suggested other sources might account for the pollutants found in Amherst.
That argument did not hold up with jurors. The jury found TCI liable on the claims. Attorney Kevin Hannon, who represented the Amherst homeowners alongside lawyers from Morgan & Morgan and Gottesman & Hollis, P.A., said the verdict recognizes the economic harm suffered by property owners and sends a message about corporate accountability. A TCI attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the verdict, per the Union Leader.
Health Risks Tied to Forever Chemicals
The EPA has issued health advisories for PFOA and PFOS. For Amherst property owners, who have dealt with the consequences of contamination for nearly a decade, the verdict marks the first major financial reckoning tied to that exposure.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across Southern New Hampshire
The Amherst case echoes a separate, larger PFAS saga involving Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, which is considered responsible for contaminating water supplies in southern New Hampshire communities with dangerous levels of PFAS, according to the Union Leader. Saint-Gobain officials informed the state in 2016 that they had detected PFAS in water inside their plant, and the company reached an agreement covering around 1,000 properties in Merrimack, Londonderry, Litchfield, Hudson and Bedford, with connections to public water or treatment among the options. Saint-Gobain executives announced in August 2023 that the company would close its Merrimack facility.
Attorney Rosemarie Rung commented on the Saint-Gobain settlement. Law.com also reported on the Amherst verdict. In one related case, the Associated Press reported that a judge approved a $34 million settlement over PFOA contamination, according to AP News.
