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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Chemical pollution · United States · 2023

3M agrees to pay US public water suppliers $10.3bn over PFAS

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

3M's settlement with US public water suppliers over PFAS was approved on 29 March 2024 at a present value of $10.3 billion, with a nominal ceiling of $12.5 billion paid over 13 years. It covers systems that have detected or could detect PFAS, and the company's chief executive described it as a way to reduce risk and uncertainty.

What?
3M agreed to pay US public water suppliers $10.3 billion in present value over PFAS claims. 3M
Where?
United States, public water systems nationwide 3M
When?
Announced June 2023; final approval 29 March 2024; payments to 2036 3M
Who?
Gained
  • 3M — Payments spread over 2024 to 2036 at a 5.2% discount rate 3M
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Public water systems and their customers — Covered by the settlement for PFAS found, or that could be found, in their supplies 3M
Why?
3M's chief executive presented the settlement as a way to reduce risk and uncertainty.
How?
Settlement with public water suppliers without an admission of liability, paid in instalments. 3M
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

3M's June 2023 press release announced a settlement with US public water suppliers, valued at $10.3 billion in present terms and up to $12.5 billion nominal over 13 years.

The settlement received final approval on 29 March 2024 and covers public water systems that have detected or could detect PFAS.

3M's chief executive, Mike Roman, presented the settlement as an effort to reduce risk and uncertainty.

In its second-quarter 2023 results 3M recorded the settlement as a charge, discounted at 5.2%, with payments running from 2024 to 2036.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2024-02-16Settled
      PFAS contamination suit against DuPont, Chemours and Corteva
      Not named in the sources reviewed · Civil · US water systems → DuPont, Chemours and Corteva

      ASDWA reported that a judge approved a settlement requiring the three companies to pay $1.1 billion. ASDWA

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: AWWA estimates of $37.1 to $48.3 billion over five years to treat more than 7,000 water intake points, with most of the cost falling on customers.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the split of the DuPont, Chemours and Corteva payments into $592 million, $400 million and $193 million, and the exclusion of personal-injury and state natural-resource claims.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Communities and civil society

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.

    Law and courts

    Arbitration
    A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
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