WATCH THE WATER!

3M Settles Minnesota Lawsuit for $850 Million

By Tiffany Kary

February 21, 2018, 9:53 AM GMT+13 Updated on February 21, 2018, 1:02 PM GMT+13

2010 suit alleged cancers, colitis linked to Scotchgard toxin

Chemicals not a health risk at current exposures, 3M said

3M Co. has settled a lawsuit with Minnesota’s Attorney General Lori Swanson for $850 million, putting an end to eight years of litigation over a former Scotchgard ingredient that got into the state’s drinking water.

The funds will be used to finance projects that involve drinking water and water sustainability, according to statements from 3M and the state, after Minnesota alleged that chemicals known as PFCs could cause harm to citizens.

The agreement materialized just as jury selection got underway Tuesday, and after Judge Kevin S. Burke urged the parties to compromise, saying that it wasn’t in the best interests of the state’s citizens or 3M’s shareholders for the case to drag on.

“While we have never believed there is a PFC-related health problem, this settlement allows us to move past the litigation,” John Banovetz, a 3M representative, said in the courtroom in Minneapolis after the agreement was announced.

What began in 2010 as a lawsuit over fish and waterways in Minnesota had turned into a battle over whether 3M had contributed to health problems in its home state. In November, Minnesota said it had found cancer and premature births outside Minneapolis and would seek punitive damages that would bring its total demand in the lawsuit to $5 billion. 3M and a state study released on the eve of trial said there is no health problem.

Growing Controversy

Controversy is growing over the main chemicals involved, PFOS and PFOA, as well as the entire class of perfluorinated compounds – or PFCs – which are still used in stainproof and waterproof treatments and food packaging. The situation tested a state’s ability to force a major employer to pay for pollution as the U.S. relaxes environmental rules. It also shows how liability can mushroom long after companies stop making chemicals like PFCs that don’t degrade, but accumulate in the food chain.

“These chemicals have been put into the ground for a long period of time,” said Swanson in an interview after the settlement. The state pursued funds to “relieve the burden on taxpayers who may otherwise have to pay for these problems,” she said. The first priority for the funds will be to improve water quality, she said.

3M has also been sued by people, towns and water districts across the U.S., with claims the chemicals got into drinking water from sites like air force bases where they were used in firefighting foams, and in one case, a tannery where they were used to treat leather.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/3m-is-said-to-settle-minnesota-lawsuit-for-up-to-1-billion