3M is responding to a lawsuit from Hastings over allegedly polluting the city's drinking water

Hastings filed the lawsuit last week, claiming chemicals released from smokestack emissions at 3M's Cottage Grove facility drifted into Hastings and got into at least five groundwater and municipal wells.

The city says it must construct new treatment plants to meet EPA standards, which will cost millions of dollars. The lawsuit alleges that 3M is responsible for this contamination and that 3M should pay the high costs of building and operating treatment systems to remove PFOA from drinking water.

The complaint also alleges that 3M has known for decades of PFOA’s health and environmental risks but misled the public about those risks and continues to promote PFOA as safe.

In a statement, 3M called Hastings' choice to litigate "unfortunate" and that it met its goal of discontinuing global PFAS manufacturing by the end of last year.

3M also adds they're committing billions of dollars toward helping public water suppliers nationwide that detected PFAS.

"Here in Minnesota, 3M in 2018 provided a commitment of $850 million to mitigate PFAS in the State—including drinking water in East Metro communities," the company said in a statement. "That was followed in 2024 by a $10.3 billion commitment to assist public water suppliers across the United States that had detected PFAS in their water or would do so in the future, covering more than 11,000 public water systems across the country."

3M says it's willing to talk with Hastings about any 'legitimate concerns.'