Thousands of residents across Middlesex County have joined in a class action lawsuit over tainted drinking water.

The lawsuit filed says Middlesex Water Company failed to properly alert its customers about hazardous chemicals in their water.

The chemicals are PFOAs, also known as forever chemicals. These chemicals do not break down over time.

The lawsuit focuses on notification in that residents say they were not properly notified.

Middlesex Water Company told customers to buy bottled water after it reported high levels of PFOAs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says PFOAs can cause a variety of health issues, which include cancer.

Notices were only sent to the person named on the water bill, which means that apartment tenants who don't pay water had to rely on a landlord or building manager to pass along the tainted water alert.

About 61,000 homes in South Plainfield, Clark, Edison, Metuchen, Woodbridge and Carteret get water from Middlesex Water.

The water company shut off the contaminated source in November 2021 and began to supply those affected homes with water that meets the state state standard for PFOAs.

The shut off followed an agreement with lawyers for the plaintiffs who seek compensation for expenses of buying their own bottles water and, more importantly, for any medical related issues they may have.

Middlesex Water has not commented on the pending litigation.