3M, a multinational conglomerate known for making products such as adhesives, announced this week that it would spend more than $10 billion over a 13-year-period to remediate “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
In doing so, the company resolves claims by public water suppliers and “supports drinking water solutions for the majority of Americans,” said a press release.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to crack down on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water. These are known as “forever chemicals.”
“PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time,” the EPA said. “Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.”
Research also indicates that exposure to PFAS chemicals could be linked to harmful health effects in both humans and animals. Documents provided by the Lawsuit Information Center show that Stuart, Fla., sued the company in 2018 over contamination linked to Aqueous Film Forming Foam used to fight fires.
Per The Guardian, 3M is facing thousands of lawsuits over PFAS contamination but did not admit liability this week in its settlement announcement.
According to 3M, the remediation agreement provides water treatment funding for public water suppliers throughout the U.S. that have detected PFAS in drinking water as well as suppliers that may detect PFAS at any level in the future.
It also “resolves current and future drinking water claims by PWS related to PFOA, PFOS, and all other PFAS, including those that are included as a portion of the Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) multi-district litigation based in Charleston, South Carolina,” and “provides funding for PWS nationwide to conduct testing for PFAS,” said the company.
“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,” said 3M chairman and CEO Mike Roman.
Additional financial details about the program will be included in 3M’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the press release said.
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