3M agreed to pay $450 million to avoid trial for multiple PFAS contamination lawsuits in New Jersey in the state's largest settlement of this kind.
The agreement resolves the corporation of liability in multiple lawsuits, all initiated in 2019. State attorneys had sued 3M over environmental damage at manufacturing sites in Pennsville and Sayreville incurred by perfluorooctanoic acid, one of several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS or "forever chemicals." Additional litigation accused the company of violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act through its manufacture, sale and advertising of firefighting foam products, which contain the chemicals. 3M was also named in a statewide PFAS directive.
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With the settlement, the company will avoid trial in the Pennsville case, scheduled to commence May 19. The lawsuit concerns a plant which 3M supplied with PFAS until 2001. The owners of that site, DuPont and Chemours, will still stand trial.
Instead, 3M will pay $450 million over 25 years, starting in 2026. The money will cover PFAS abatement projects including drinking water treatment at the affected sites. While it is still subject to court approval and public comment, it is the largest PFAS settlement in New Jersey history.
The state has now accrued a total of $840 million from corporations for environmental damages stemming from PFAS contamination. It reached a $393 million settlement with Solvay Specialty Polymers over contamination at its West Deptford site in 2023.
PFAS have become a pressing environmental and health concern in recent years. They are nicknamed forever chemicals because they do not break down easily and accrue in human and animal blood. Health professionals have found especially pronounced concentrations in people who live near manufacturing sites or military bases, such as the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster. One resident tested 19 times over the "high" threshold in a recent federal study.
Research has linked PFAS to numerous health problems, including several types of cancer. The Biden administration introduced new standards to limit PFAS in drinking water last year.
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