Attorney General Kaul Joins Coalition in Calling for 3M to Pay More and Sooner for Contaminating Americans’ Drinking Water Supply with Toxic PFAS
August 29, 2023
MADISON, Wis. – Joining a coalition of five attorneys general, Attorney General Josh Kaul today announced filing an amicus letter expressing strong concerns regarding 3M’s revised proposed class action settlement with public water suppliers. While 3M made several important concessions at the request of states, 3M declined to pay more than the $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion set forth in the original proposed settlement, which falls far short of the amount needed to remediate the PFAS contamination caused by 3M to Americans’ drinking water supply. 3M also declined to pay the settlement amount more quickly, insisting that it be paid out over a decade — even while there are concerns about bankruptcy in light of 3M’s many PFAS and other liabilities.
In their amicus letter to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, the coalition writes that:
- The revised settlement still includes a very protracted payment schedule that makes water suppliers bear the risk of 3M’s insolvency for over a decade. Specifically, 3M will pay thirteen annual installments between 2024 and 2036.
- $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion represents a tiny fraction of the damages 3M caused to water suppliers over the span of almost eight decades. 3M has been producing PFAS since the 1940s.
- A recent study by the American Water Works Association, a major membership organization that includes public water systems, predicts nationwide costs for PFAS regulatory compliance that dwarf the settlement amount. With water utilities being unable to cover the full costs of drinking water monitoring and treatment, they will need to pass costs on to ratepayers — American residents and businesses.
On July 26, 2023, Attorney General Kaul joined a bipartisan coalition of 23 attorneys general in opposing 3M’s original proposed settlement because of several significant problems with the proposal. Along with today’s amicus letter, the attorneys general are withdrawing that opposition because 3M has agreed to the following revisions:
- Modify the revised proposed settlement in several places to make clear that claims filed by attorneys general will not be impaired.
- Modify the terms of any proposed anti-suit injunction to ensure that the states remain free to file PFAS-related claims against 3M.
- Eliminate an indemnification clause in the agreement that would have unfairly shifted future liability from 3M to water suppliers bound by the settlement because they decided not to proactively opt out.
- Provide public water providers with a method for estimating the payout amounts they would receive. Under the original proposed settlement, they would have had to make their opt-out decisions without that information.
- Give public water providers 90 days to opt out, instead of the 60 days included in the original proposed settlement.
PFAS have been widely used in consumer products including food packaging, cookware, clothing, carpets, shoes, fabrics, polishes, waxes, paints, and cleaning products, as well as in firefighting foams designed to quickly smother liquid fuel fires. PFAS are stable in the environment, resistant to degradation, persistent in soil, and known to leach into groundwater.
Joining Attorney General Kaul in filing the amicus letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania.
A copy of the amicus letter is available here and a copy of the consent motion with the revisions to the proposed settlement is available here.
View this press release on the Wisconsin DOJ website here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the PFAS Problem
- State Supreme Court Agrees to Take WMC Toxic Pollution Case - Midwest Environmental Advocates - Sep 11th, 2024
- 2017 Law Resulting in Long List of Outdated DNR Water Standards - Danielle Kaeding - Sep 5th, 2024
- Murphy’s Law: Is Milorganite Making People Sick? - Bruce Murphy - Sep 4th, 2024
- Wisconsin Seeks To Match PFAS Rules To Federal Regulations - Danielle Kaeding - Aug 27th, 2024
- PFAS in Foam Far Worse Than Water in Wisconsin’s Rivers, Lakes - Danielle Kaeding - Jul 10th, 2024
- Lawmakers At Odds Over Releasing Health, PFAS Funds - Erik Gunn - Jun 6th, 2024
- Wisconsin Senate Votes to Override Governor’s Vetoes - Baylor Spears - May 15th, 2024
- Gov. Evers Sues Republican Legislators for Continued Obstruction of Investments Intended to Address Pressing Challenges Facing Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - May 13th, 2024
- Legislators Agree on Opioid Plan, Still Withhold PFAS, Hospital Funds - Erik Gunn - May 8th, 2024
- Gov. Evers Again Calls Republican Lawmakers into Special Meeting to Urge Immediate Release of $140 Million to Fight PFAS Statewide, Respond to Hospital Closures in Western Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - May 6th, 2024
Read more about PFAS Problem here
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by Wisconsin Department of Justice
Wisconsin and Coalition of 30 States Announce Settlement to End Interstate Unclaimed Property Litigation
Sep 10th, 2024 by Wisconsin Department of JusticeStates will take possession of more than $190 million in unclaimed property
AG Kaul Reminds Wisconsin Residents of Office of School Safety Resources Available this School Year
Sep 3rd, 2024 by Wisconsin Department of JusticeSeptember 3, 2024