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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Cases / Insurance declined or withdrawn · United States · 2020–2026

PFAS insurance disputes (3M, Chemours, DuPont)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not measured · 3 disputed · 5 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did PFAS releases contaminate public water supplies?
  • Company or project DuPont, Chemours and Corteva: Deny the allegations in the public-water-system claims, while funding a $1.185bn settlement. DuPont
  • Government and regulators New York State environmental agency (DEC): Designated the Tonoga plant a state Superfund site and a significant threat to public health after PFOA reached the municipal water supply.

Companies facing PFAS settlements worth billions of dollars have turned to their liability insurers. US courts have so far ruled both ways on whether pollution exclusions bar cover, and the largest case, AIG v. 3M, is pending.

$367m and $39mInsurance recoveries booked by Johnson Controls (Tyco AFFF claims), fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025
Booked against a $750m settlement with US public water systems (April 2024). The filing excerpt in the record does not say how much of the recoveries relates to that settlement.

Status As of 30 June 2026 (latest filings in the record): AIG v. 3M and 3M's Delaware suit against excess insurers are pending with no ruling found; Chemours is in arbitration with additional carriers; Carrier has recorded no insurance receivable.

What?
Companies facing PFAS settlements and claims sought to recover costs from liability insurers, and insurers responded with lawsuits, policy exclusions and coverage defences. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Where?
United States; coverage cases in Delaware, Wisconsin, New York, California, Michigan and North Carolina. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
When?
Rulings from 2020 to 2025; lawsuits by and against 3M from October 2024; Chemours arbitrations from April 2025; filings to 30 June 2026. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Who?
Gained
  • Insurers on policies with pollution exclusions — A New York appeals court (2022) and a Wisconsin court (Dec 2024, water-contamination claims) held the exclusions barred a duty to defend or cover. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
  • Chemours — Received about $23m from one insurer (2024) and $150m of consideration for assigned insurance rights (2025). Chemours (SEC)
  • Johnson Controls — Booked insurance recoveries of $367m (fiscal 2024) and $39m (fiscal 2025). Johnson Controls (SEC)
Lost
  • Tonoga Inc. — Found to have no right to a defence under its policies (2022).
  • Insurers in the Wisconsin direct-exposure ruling — Lost on firefighters' direct-exposure claims in 2025.
Harmed
  • Public water systems and users in Petersburg, New York — PFOA from the Tonoga plant reached the municipal water supply.
  • US public water systems — Claimants in the 2023 settlements totalling more than $11bn for 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva combined. DuPont
Why?
Insurers cite pollution exclusions and arguments that the discharge was knowing and routine; the industry's standard PFAS exclusions date from the 05-23 ISO edition. PropertyCasualty360
How?
Lawsuits, arbitration, mediation and negotiation; settlement with one insurer; assignment of insurance rights for payment (Chemours, Carrier). Chemours (SEC)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In June 2023 3M reached a settlement with US public water systems over PFAS contamination. The record gives a pre-tax present-value charge of $10.3bn in the second quarter of 2023 and a nominal range of up to $12.5bn paid through 2036. The same month DuPont, Chemours and Corteva agreed a $1.185bn fund for public water systems (Chemours about $592m, DuPont about $400m, Corteva about $193m); the companies deny the allegations. Earlier, in February 2017, DuPont and Chemours paid about $671m in cash to settle about 3,550 personal-injury suits, split 50/50, without admitting wrongdoing. In August 2025 Chemours, DuPont and Corteva agreed a New Jersey settlement of $875m in cash over 25 years, with shares of 50%, 35.5% and 14.5%.

Insurers have moved in two ways. ISO issued PFAS exclusion endorsements for commercial general liability policies (CG 40 32, CG 34 95 and CG 34 96, 05-23 edition), and USI said most insurers are requiring PFAS exclusions at renewal. Moody's, with Praedicat, estimated in November 2023 that US bodily-injury losses of about $10bn are expected and that removing PFAS from drinking water would cost $64.5bn to $248bn.

3M's filings describe insurance recovery as underway through lawsuits in US courts, arbitration, mediation and negotiation with insurers. 3M reported insurance recoveries of $349m in 2024 and $392m in 2025; these totals combine PFAS with two other matters. Its environmental-only recovery benefit was $27m in 2024, and it reported $290m for the six months to 30 June 2026 (again combined). In late October 2024 AIG sued 3M, citing policy language that it said limits or bars coverage for PFAS and pollution; 3M said it disputes the allegations and expects its insurers to honor their obligations. Separately, 3M told a Delaware state court that its excess insurers must cover it.

Courts have split. In January 2022 a New York appeals court held that pollution exclusions barred any duty to defend Tonoga Inc., whose plant discharged PFOA, in a case against two AIG companies. In Wisconsin, in a suit brought by Century Indemnity against Tyco Fire Products, the court ruled on 16 December 2024 that the pollution exclusion barred cover for AFFF water-contamination claims; insurers later lost on firefighters' direct-exposure claims in 2025. Other federal rulings (Wolverine World Wide, 2021; Colony v. Buckeye, 2020; National Foam v. Zurich, February 2025) went in part or wholly for the policyholder.

Disclosed insurance payments are partial. Chemours reached a $45m settlement with one insurer in July 2024 and received about $23m; since April 2025 it has sent four demands for arbitration to further insurers, and its noticed but unpaid policies have limits totalling $750m. In August 2025 it agreed to assign certain PFAS insurance rights for $150m, tied to the New Jersey settlement. Johnson Controls booked insurance recoveries of $367m in fiscal 2024 and $39m in fiscal 2025 after a $750m settlement. Carrier, after a $615m cash settlement for Kidde-Fenwal plus an assignment of insurance rights, is entitled to up to $2.4bn of insurance proceeds but had recorded no insurance receivable at 30 June 2026.

  1. 201713 Feb: DuPont and Chemours settle about 3,550 personal-injury suits for about $671m, split 50/50
  2. 2018Feb: 3M settles Minnesota natural-resource-damages claims for $850m (no insurance link disclosed)
  3. 2020Colony v. Buckeye (W.D.N.C.): pollution exclusion does not bar direct-exposure product claims
  4. 2021Jan: DuPont, Corteva and Chemours agree to share PFAS costs up to $4bn over at most 20 years. Wolverine World Wide ruling (W.D. Mich.): duty to defend under the sudden-or-accidental exception
  5. 20226 Jan: New York Appellate Division rules for AIG companies in Tonoga: pollution exclusions bar any duty to defend
  6. 2023ISO PFAS exclusion endorsements (05-23 edition). June: 3M and DuPont/Chemours/Corteva public-water settlements
  7. 2024Jan–Dec: Wisconsin rulings in Century Indemnity v. Tyco, ending with the 16 Dec pollution-exclusion ruling. Apr: Johnson Controls/Tyco $750m settlement. Jul: Chemours $45m insurer settlement. Late Oct: AIG sues 3M; 3M sues excess insurers in Delaware
  8. 2025Feb: National Foam v. Zurich (N.D. Cal.), split result. Apr: Chemours sends four demands for arbitration. Aug: New Jersey settlement and Chemours PFAS Insurance MOU ($150m for assigned rights)
  9. 202630 Jun: Carrier reports no insurance receivable; 3M reports $290m of recoveries for the six months (combined matters)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“limiting or barring coverage”

AIG, describing language in its policies, in its suit against 3M as reported by Fox 9 · October 2024 · Fox 9

“expects its insurers to fully honor their obligations”

3M, as reported by Fox 9 · October 2024 · Fox 9

“Since April 2025, four Demands for Arbitration have been sent to additional noticed insurance carriers.”

“the gravamen of [the allegations] is decidedly plaintiff's knowing discharge of PFOA and/or PFOS as part of its routine manufacturing processes”

New York Appellate Division, Third Department, in Tonoga (quoted via the law firm Covington) · 6 January 2022

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Do pollution exclusions in liability policies bar cover for PFAS claims?
Company or project
AIG

Its policies contain language "limiting or barring coverage" for PFAS-related liability and pollution damage.

Fox 9
Company or project
3M

Disputes the allegations and "expects its insurers to fully honor their obligations."

Fox 9
Courts
New York Appellate Division, Third Department (Tonoga, 2022)

Total and qualified pollution exclusions bar any duty to defend; the allegations concerned a knowing discharge of PFOA and PFOS as part of routine manufacturing.

Courts
Wisconsin Circuit Court, Marinette County (16 Dec 2024)

The pollution exclusion bars cover for AFFF water-contamination claims against Tyco Fire Products.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Courts
N.D. Cal. (National Foam v. Zurich, Feb 2025)

Split result.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Courts
W.D. Mich. (Wolverine World Wide, 2021)

Duty to defend exists under the sudden-or-accidental exception.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Do exclusions reach claims of direct exposure to PFAS products, as opposed to water contamination?
Courts
W.D.N.C. (Colony v. Buckeye, 2020)

The exclusion does not bar direct-exposure product claims.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Courts
Wisconsin Circuit Court, Marinette County (2025)

Insurers lost on firefighters' direct-exposure claims against Tyco.

Did PFAS releases contaminate public water supplies?
Company or project
DuPont, Chemours and Corteva

Deny the allegations in the public-water-system claims, while funding a $1.185bn settlement.

DuPont
Government and regulators
New York State environmental agency (DEC)

Designated the Tonoga plant a state Superfund site and a significant threat to public health after PFOA reached the municipal water supply.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Insurance recovery is underway through lawsuits filed in US courts, arbitration proceedings, mediations and negotiations with insurers.
    3M, FY2025 annual report
  • A $45m settlement agreement was reached in July 2024 with one of the insurance carriers; noticed policies not yet paid have limits totalling $750m.
    Chemours, FY2025 annual report · Chemours (SEC)

Recorded

  • New York (2022) and Wisconsin (Dec 2024, water-contamination claims) courts held pollution exclusions barred cover; courts in North Carolina (2020), Michigan (2021) and Wisconsin (2025, firefighters' direct-exposure claims) went the other way.
    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
  • Chemours: about $23m received and a $23m gain booked from the July 2024 insurer settlement; $150m of consideration for assigned insurance rights in August 2025.
    Chemours (SEC)
  • Johnson Controls: insurance recoveries of $367m booked in fiscal 2024 and $39m in fiscal 2025.
    Johnson Controls (SEC)
  • Carrier: no insurance receivable recorded at 30 June 2026, against entitlement to up to $2.4bn of proceeds.
    Carrier (SEC)

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • 3M (October 2024): Disputes AIG's allegations and expects its insurers to fully honor their obligations. · Fox 9
  • AIG (October 2024): Its policies contain language limiting or barring coverage for PFAS-related liability and pollution damage. · Fox 9
  • Chemours (2026 (FY2025 report)): Settled with one insurer in July 2024, sent four demands for arbitration to further insurers from April 2025, and agreed in August 2025 to assign certain PFAS insurance rights for $150m. · Chemours (SEC)
  • DuPont, Chemours and Corteva (June 2023): Deny the allegations in the public-water-system claims. · DuPont
  • Johnson Controls (FY2025 report): Reported insurance recoveries of $367m (fiscal 2024) and $39m (fiscal 2025) for its AFFF matters. · Johnson Controls (SEC)
  • Carrier (30 June 2026): Reported no insurance receivable at 30 June 2026 and entitlement to up to $2.4bn of insurance proceeds. · Carrier (SEC)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2024-10 (late October)–Ongoing
    AIG v. 3M (PFAS coverage)
    US federal court (not identified in the sources reviewed) · Civil · AIG → 3M

    AIG says its policies contain language limiting or barring coverage for PFAS-related liability and pollution damage. 3M disputes the allegations. The pleaded grounds and the AIG entities involved are not available in the sources reviewed. Fox 9

  2. Ongoing
    3M v. excess insurers (PFAS coverage)
    Delaware state court · Civil · 3M → 3M's excess insurers

    In a separate case reported on 30 October 2024, 3M told a Delaware court that its excess insurers must cover its PFAS liabilities. 3M had about $14bn in PFAS settlements.

  3. 2024-12-16Claimant won
    Century Indemnity v. Tyco Fire Products (AFFF water-contamination claims)
    Wisconsin Circuit Court, Marinette County · Civil · Century Indemnity (insurer) → Tyco Fire Products

    On 24 January 2024 the court found a separate occurrence for each water provider; on 21 March 2024 it applied "all sums" allocation; on 16 December 2024 it held that the pollution exclusion bars cover for AFFF water-contamination claims. Appeal status is not known from the sources reviewed. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

  4. 2025Defendant won
    Century Indemnity v. Tyco Fire Products (firefighters' direct-exposure claims)
    Wisconsin Circuit Court, Marinette County · Civil · Century Indemnity (insurer) → Tyco Fire Products

    In 2025 the insurers lost on firefighters' direct-exposure claims.

  5. 2022-01-06Defendant won
    Tonoga Inc. v. New Hampshire Insurance Co.
    New York Appellate Division, Third Department (201 A.D.3d 1091) · Civil · Tonoga Inc. → New Hampshire Insurance Co. and Granite State Insurance (both AIG)

    Tonoga's coating plant in Petersburg, New York had run since 1961; PFOA reached the municipal water supply and the state environmental agency designated it a state Superfund site. The court held that the pollution exclusions bar any duty to defend.

  6. 2025-02Outcome not on record
    National Foam v. Zurich
    US District Court, N.D. California · Civil · National Foam → Zurich

    Split result on coverage for PFAS claims. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

  7. 2021Claimant won
    Wolverine World Wide coverage case
    US District Court, W.D. Michigan · Civil · Wolverine World Wide → Its insurers (not named in the sources reviewed)

    The court found a duty to defend under the "sudden or accidental" exception. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

  8. 2020Defendant won
    Colony v. Buckeye
    US District Court, W.D. North Carolina · Civil · Colony (insurer) → Buckeye

    The court held that the pollution exclusion does not bar direct-exposure product claims. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

  9. 2025-04–Ongoing
    Chemours arbitrations against additional insurers
    Arbitration (forum not specified) · Arbitration · Chemours → Additional noticed insurance carriers

    Since April 2025 four demands for arbitration have been sent. Noticed policies not yet paid have limits totalling $750m. Chemours (SEC)

Insurers

  1. 2024In litigation$392000bn Insurance recoveries 3M reported for 2025 ($349m for 2024); combined PFAS and two other matters
    AIG and 3M's excess insurers → 3M
    Stated reason: AIG cites policy language limiting or barring coverage for PFAS and pollution.

    3M says recovery is underway through lawsuits, arbitration, mediation and negotiation. It reported $27m of environmental-only recoveries in 2024 and $290m for the six months to 30 June 2026 (combined matters). It wrote that full coverage of its liabilities by insurance is unlikely. 3M (SEC)

  2. 2024Partly paid$367000bn Recoveries booked in fiscal 2024 ($39m in fiscal 2025)
    Insurers not named (Century Indemnity is a party in the Wisconsin case) → Johnson Controls (Tyco Fire Products)

    Recoveries were booked after a $750m public-water-system settlement in April 2024. Johnson Controls (SEC)

  3. 2024Partly paid$23000bn Received (settlement agreement of $45m)
    One insurance carrier (not named) → Chemours

    Chemours booked a $23m gain. Four arbitration demands to further carriers followed from April 2025; unpaid noticed policies have limits totalling $750m. Chemours (SEC)

  4. 2025No policy found$150000bn Consideration for certain assigned PFAS insurance rights
    PFAS insurance rights assigned (insurers not named) → Chemours

    August 2025 PFAS Insurance MOU, tied to the New Jersey settlement. Chemours (SEC)

  5. 2026No policy found$2400000bn Maximum insurance proceeds Carrier is entitled to
    Insurers not named → Carrier (Kidde-Fenwal)

    Carrier settled for $615m in cash plus an assignment of insurance rights. No insurance receivable was recorded at 30 June 2026. Carrier (SEC)

  6. 2022Claim refused
    New Hampshire Insurance Co. and Granite State Insurance (both AIG) → Tonoga Inc.

    The New York Appellate Division held that pollution exclusions bar any duty to defend.

  7. 2023Cover declined
    Commercial liability insurers generally (ISO endorsements; renewal terms) → Policyholders generally

    ISO issued PFAS exclusion endorsements (05-23 edition), and a broker said most insurers are requiring PFAS exclusions at renewal. PropertyCasualty360

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Public-water-system settlements
$10.3bn+ and $1.185bn
3M: present value of up to $12.5bn nominal through 2036; DuPont, Chemours, Corteva: June 2023 fund
Insurance recoveries reported
$349m (2024), $392m (2025)
3M; combined figure for PFAS and two other matters
Courts on pollution exclusions
Insurers won in NY (2022) and WI (Dec 2024)
Other US courts allowed duty-to-defend or direct-exposure claims

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsCase pending / contested

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed Did PFAS releases contaminate public water supplies?

Court

  • Unclear National Foam v. Zurich: outcome not on record.

Insurers

  • Unclear PFAS insurance rights assigned (insurers not named): no decision on record.
  • Unclear Insurers not named: no decision on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Do pollution exclusions in liability policies bar cover for PFAS claims?
  • Disputed Do exclusions reach claims of direct exposure to PFAS products, as opposed to water contamination?

Record

  • None on record How much of 3M's reported insurance recoveries ($349m in 2024, $392m in 2025) relates to PFAS: the figures are reported combined with two other matters.
  • None on record Which insurer settled with Chemours in July 2024: the filing says only "one of the insurance carriers".
  • None on record The appeal status of the December 2024 Wisconsin ruling in Century Indemnity v. Tyco Fire Products.
  • Unclear Whether 3M's $850m Minnesota natural-resource-damages settlement (2018) had any insurance link: none was disclosed.
  • None on record No coverage denial against Chemours or DuPont was found; the record notes a separate California claim over transfers of PFAS insurance rights, with no details.
  • Unclear Whether any PFAS insurance recovery was spent on cleanup or treatment of water or land: no source in the record traces one.

Did the harm stop?

3M announced in December 2022 that it would stop making PFAS by the end of 2025. The sources reviewed do not say whether PFAS already in water systems has been removed.

Who paid?

The settling companies paid the settlements. Insurance contributions disclosed so far are partial and, for 3M, combined with other matters.

Sources

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

Company or project

Press and investigations

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.

Bonds and banking

Delaware, Guernsey, Cayman Islands
Jurisdictions widely used to register companies, funds and accounts for legal, confidentiality and tax reasons.

Law and courts

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

Insurance

Pollution exclusion
A clause in a liability policy that excludes damage caused by pollution from cover.

Institutions

SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates securities markets and what companies tell investors.
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