A federal court has dismissed a $400 million lawsuit brought by 28 farmers and landowners in Curry County, N.M., over PFAS contamination linked to Cannon Air Force Base.
The plaintiffs—including former Highland Dairy owners Art and S. Renee Schaap—argued that the U.S. government’s decades-long use of firefighting foam amounted to a Fifth Amendment taking. Their claim: the land is no longer usable, the water is tainted, and the damage is permanent.
But on March 26, Judge Bonilla ruled the court lacks jurisdiction. Some claims, the judge noted, are already tied up in a separate federal tort case. Others didn’t demonstrate a direct enough invasion of PFAS to qualify under takings law.
The court didn’t rule on whether the contamination happened or whether the government is liable—just that this wasn’t the venue for this kind of case.
The Schaaps had shut down Highland Dairy after the USDA and FDA quarantined their herd in 2018. Soil tests around Cannon AFB showed PFAS levels above EPA thresholds, which dropped from 70 parts per trillion in 2016 to just 4 ppt in 2024. The Schaaps say their losses topped $150 million. The USDA paid them $15 million in indemnity.
The plaintiffs may still pursue claims elsewhere. But this route is now closed.
