Maplewood-based 3M on Thursday announced it’s reached a settlement of more than $10 billion to resolve lawsuits over drinking water contaminated by PFAS — so-called “forever chemicals.”
The company said the settlement “resolves current and future drinking water claims” by public water systems. It stems from lawsuits over water contaminated by firefighting foam that contained PFAS; the chemicals don’t break down in the environment and have been linked to serious health issues.
The company’s news release placed the settlement at “up to $10.3 billion.” A company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission put the amount at $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion.
The settlement still needs to be approved by the court.
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“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,” 3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman said in a statement announcing the settlement.
A federal judge earlier this month granted a motion to delay the start of a civil trial in which a Florida city was seeking damages from 3M over the use of firefighting foam, amid reports that “serious settlement discussions to reach a global resolution of the claims” were underway.
3M said the money, to be paid over 13 years, will go toward PFAS testing and treatment systems. It said the settlement is not an admission of liability, as it faces other legal cases related to forever chemicals.
In 2018, 3M reached an $850 million settlement with the state of Minnesota in a lawsuit over chemical contamination of water in several eastern Twin Cities suburbs.