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Charleston Flushable Wipes Settlement Overview:
- WHO: The settlement is between the Charleston Water System and Kimberly-Clark Corp.
- WHY: Kimberly-Clark was accused of designing and marketing wipes as “flushable” when they were not.
- WHERE: Nationwide
A federal judge has granted preliminary approval in a settlement over class action claims from the Charleston, South Carolina, Water System that certain flushable wipes damaged the city’s sewer system.
The class action lawsuit, filed in early 2021, named several defendants in addition to Kimberly-Clark — Costco Wholesale Corp., CVS Health Corp., The Procter & Gamble Co., Target Corp., Walgreen Co., and Wal-Mart Inc. However, the current settlement resolves only the claims against Kimberly-Clark.
The plaintiffs had accused the companies of designing, manufacturing, and marketing the wipes as “flushable” when in fact they were not.
The Charleston flushable wipes class action alleged the wipes damaged sewer systems throughout the United States, and accused the companies of nuisance, trespass, strict product liability, failure to warn, and negligence.
The certified Class is made up of all STP operators in the United States whose systems were in operation between Jan. 6, 2018, and Oct. 4, 2021, the date of preliminary approval of the settlement.
The settlement defines “STP operator” as an entity that owns or operates sewage or wastewater conveyance and treatment systems, such as wastewater districts and municipalities.
The plaintiffs sought only injunctive relief, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.
Under the terms of the settlement, Kimberly-Clark has agreed to enhanced product performance, confirmatory performance testing, improvements to product labels, and public outreach regarding flushable and non-flushable wipes.
Have you purchased wipes you thought were flushable? To your knowledge, did they cause any damage? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
The plaintiffs are represented by F. Paul Calamita of Aqualaw PLC and Samuel H. Rudman, Mark S. Reich, Vincent M. Serra, and Sarah E. Delaney of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.
The Charleston Flushable Wipes Class Action Lawsuit is Commissioners of Public Works of the City of Charleston, et al. v. Costco Wholesale Corp., et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-00042, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.
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15 thoughts onCourt Preliminarily Approves Settlement In Charleston, SC, Flushable Wipes Sewer Damage Class Action
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Add me
all these wipes are a waste of money believe me i know they really mess up your system believe me i have spent enough money having my system worked on but never again i learned the hard way so ever again please do add me to your list and i thank you
Add me please, I am on chemo and regularly use flushable wipes and we’ve had septic issues And had to have unclogged and pumped. No more flushing
I work in the waste water field as well and while some plants like big city plants can handle most flushable wipes small town systems they cause major problems for in my opinion the only thing that should be flushed is waste toilet papers wipes ect can just as easily be tossed in the trash cause that’s where it will end up anyhow we as operators must remove this from out bar screens and put in the dumpster