— By Dede Williams — 

In the latest individual US case related to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and according to attorney general Matt Platkin the largest-ever contamination settlement in the state’s history, fluorochemicals specialist 3M (Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; www.3m.com) has agreed to pay USD 450 mn (EUR 400 mn) for contaminating groundwater at an industrial park in the state of New Jersey.

The agreement, subject to court approval, settles all related charges against the company in New Jersey and allows it to avoid a trial. As part of a pledge made in 2023, at the height of a tidal wave of cases involving the “forever chemicals”, the company plans to end production of all fluoropolymers, fluorinated liquids, and PFAS-based additive products, including PFOA and PFOS, by the end of 2025.

PFAS pollution has been expensive for companies such as 3M, DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware, USA; www.dupont.com), its chemicals spinoff Chemours (Wilmington; www.chemours.com), and its agrochemicals spinoff Corteva, as the lawsuits continue. DuPont and Chemours are currently embroiled in a trial underway in a federal court in Camden, New Jersey, alleging PFAS contamination at its Chambers Works in neighbouring state Pennsylvania’s Salem County.

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In 2023, at the height of a tsunami of US lawsuits against PFAS contamination, the above-mentioned companies agreed to pay billions of dollars over several years to resolve contamination claims by public water utilities in several US states.

3M also paid USD 12.5 bn to close a federal class action lawsuit heard by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina Charleston division, pertaining to pollution of drinking water in numerous municipalities with PFAS from fire-fighting foam over decades, in 3M’s case dating back to 1940.

In smaller charges in 2023, in Europe the US firm had to shell out EUR 571 mn to fund remediation efforts mandated by Belgium’s Flemish regional government for discharges from its subsidiary Dyneon’s plant at Zwijndrecht, Belgium.