The state claimed “forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS, contaminated groundwater from an industrial park where they were used for decades.
Hiroko Tabuchi reports in the New York Times that “3M is set to pay New Jersey up to $450 million over the next quarter-century to settle claims it contaminated the state with harmful “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, affecting drinking water.
The Minnesota-based chemicals giant manufactured the PFAS, which were used for decades at the Chambers Works facility in Deepwater, N.J., a nearly 1,500-acre complex on the banks of the Delaware River. The site was owned by DuPont, a rival company.
It is the largest single clean-water settlement in New Jersey’s history, the state said. New Jersey sued 3M, DuPont and other PFAS manufacturers in 2019, saying the facility had contaminated drinking water.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is used in a range of everyday products like nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing and stain-resistant carpets. Exposure to the chemicals has been linked to metabolic disorders, decreased fertility in women and developmental delays in children, as well as increased risk of some prostate, kidney and testicular cancers.”
“Shawn M. LaTourette, New Jersey’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection, said contamination in the state went well beyond drinking water. “We find PFAS everywhere in the state of New Jersey, leeching from landfills, and even in the soils of distant remote New Jersey forests that should be pristine,” he said.
New Jersey is the second known state to settle with 3M over PFAS drinking water contamination claims. In 2018, 3M agreed to pay Minnesota $850 million for contaminating drinking water and natural resources in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.”
Read Hiroko Tabuchi‘s full story in the New York Times here.