3M has announced it has resolved claims by public water suppliers in the U.S. over PFAS contamination in drinking water.
According to a company statement, 3M has entered into a broad class resolution to support PFAS remediation for public water suppliers (PWS) that detect PFAS at any level or may do so in the future. The agreement includes a present value commitment of up to $10.3 billion payable over 13 years.
The company has revealed the following details about the agreement, subject to court approval:
- Provides funding for PWS across the country for PFAS treatment technologies without the need for further litigation.
- Provides funding for eligible PWS that may detect PFAS in the future.
- Resolves current and future drinking water claims by PWS related to PFOA, PFOS, and all other PFAS, including those that are included as a portion of the Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) multi-district litigation based in Charleston, South Carolina.
- Provides funding for PWS nationwide to conduct testing for PFAS.
3M chairman and CEO Mike Roman said: "This is an important step forward for 3M, which builds on our actions that include our announced exit of PFOA and PFOS manufacturing more than 20 years ago, our more recent investments in state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations, and our announcement that we will exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025".
The company’s statement says the agreement is not an admission of liability, and if not approved by the court or certain agreed terms are not fulfilled, 3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in the litigation. In addition, 3M also will continue to address other PFAS litigation by defending itself in court or through negotiated resolutions as appropriate.
“This historic settlement is the largest amount ever paid by a single company to resolve claims involving contaminated drinking water and provides compensation critical to protecting our nation’s drinking water supplies and upgrading our water treatment infrastructure to deal with this new threat”, said Paul J. Napoli, court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and a leader of the national settlement negotiating team, in a statement by law firm Napoli Shkolnik.
Napoli Shkolnik has announced the settlement with 3M amounts to a $12.5 billion. It comes after a $1.185 billion class settlement with PFAS manufacturers DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached a few weeks ago.
