It is not immediately clear what share of the settlement funds any local communities will receive. The settlement is still subject to court approval, attorneys in the case said.
“The specifics of the settlement have not yet been disclosed, however we speculate there may be additional testing requirements,” Bellbrook City Manager Rob Schommer said Friday. “Our original suit included additional defendants in addition to 3M, and the case continues with litigation against the remaining non-settled companies.”
The 3M agreement would settle a case in federal court in South Carolina that was scheduled for trial earlier this month. It centered on a claim by Stuart, Florida, one of about 300 communities that have filed similar suits.
Separately, the city of Dayton filed suit against Wright-Patterson Air Force Base over contamination of its water supply in 2021, alleging that the chemicals from the foam had leached into the city’s water supply.
The settlement in the 3M case will be paid over 13 years and could reach as high as $12.5 billion, depending on how many public water systems detect PFAS during testing that EPA has required in the next three years, said Dallas-based attorney Scott Summy, one of the lead attorneys for those suing 3M and other manufacturers.
The payment will help cover costs of filtering PFAS from water systems where it’s been detected and testing others, Summy said.
“The result is that millions of Americans will have healthier lives without PFAS in their drinking water,” Summy said.
Schommer said Bellbrook’s focus is that same water safety.
“The purpose of this lawsuit is to remain proactive in protecting our water sources and to gain more information from the responsible companies about the forever chemicals and how to best identify remediation and monitoring methods to keep the water sources clean and safe,” he said. “We believe the companies who developed these chemicals should be responsible for identifying remediation and monitoring methods including the costs to do so.”
Earlier this month, three other companies — DuPont de Nemours Inc. and spinoffs Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc. — reached a $1.18 billion deal to resolve PFAS complaints by about 300 drinking water providers. A number of states, airports, firefighter training facilities and private well owners also have sued.
Per- and polyfluorinated substances are known collectively as PFAS — a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware.
Described as “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.
The compounds have been detected at varying levels in drinking water around the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency in March proposed strict limits on two common types, PFOA and PFOS, and said it wanted to regulate four others. Water providers would be responsible for monitoring their systems for the chemicals.
3M chairman Mike Roman said the deal was “an important step forward” that builds on the company's decision in 2020 to phase out PFOA and PFOS and its investments in “state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations." The company, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, will halt all PFAS production by the end of 2025, he said.
3M said its participation in the settlement “is not an admission of liability” and said if it was rejected in court, “3M is prepared to continue to defend itself.”
This story contains information from The Associated Press.