Who gains from saving nature
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 · 2023–2036

PFAS water utility settlements by 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 4 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

3M's settlement with US public water systems over PFAS received final approval on 29 March 2024; the present value of the payments was put at US$10.3 billion. The American Water Works Association said in 2023 that treating PFOA and PFOS would cost more than US$3.8 billion a year, with the burden falling on customers.

US$10.3 billion3M settlement with US public water systems, present value of payments over 13 years
Pre-tax present value; nominal cap US$12.5 billion; payment schedule runs to 2036.

Status As of May 2026: the 3M settlement with public water systems has final approval (29 March 2024) with payments scheduled to 2036; an EPA proposal dated 20 May 2026 says many systems cannot meet the 2029 deadline, with comments due 20 July 2026.

What?
3M settled claims by US public water systems over PFAS. The settlement covers all public water systems that have detected or may detect PFAS.
Where?
United States, public water systems.
When?
1970s internal knowledge reported by ProPublica; expense recorded in the second quarter of 2023; final approval 29 March 2024; payments to 2036.
Who?
Gained
  • 3M — A settlement that its chief executive presented as reducing risk and uncertainty.
  • DuPont — Chemours alleged that DuPont received a US$3.9 billion dividend in the 2015 separation while understating its PFAS liability.
Lost
  • Water customers — AWWA said most of the treatment cost would fall to them. Roll Call
Harmed
None on record
Why?
3M's chief executive described the settlement as an effort to reduce risk and uncertainty.
How?
A settlement with a present value of US$10.3 billion and a nominal cap of US$12.5 billion, paid over 13 years to 2036.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

A settlement between 3M and US public water systems received final approval on 29 March 2024. The figure of US$10.3 billion is the pre-tax present value of payments spread over 13 years; the nominal cap is US$12.5 billion and the payment schedule runs to 2036. The settlement covers all public water systems that have detected or may detect PFAS.

In the second quarter of 2023 3M recorded an expense for the settlement of US$10.3 billion (US$12.5 billion nominal, discounted at 5.2%, for 2024 to 2036), equal to US$14.19 per share. The company's tax benefit for that quarter, across all items, was US$2.184 billion. 3M's chief executive, Mike Roman, presented the settlement as an effort to reduce risk and uncertainty.

In March 2023 the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the utilities' trade association, said that treating PFOA and PFOS in drinking water would cost more than US$3.8 billion a year and that the burden would fall on customers, as reported by Roll Call.

In May 2024 ProPublica reported, from company documents, that 3M had known from animal experiments in the 1970s that PFOS was toxic, and that a 1979 report described it as more toxic than expected. In December 2022 3M announced that it would stop PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025; the business had annual sales of about US$1.3 billion. Chemours alleged that in its 2015 separation from DuPont, DuPont understated its PFAS liability by US$1 billion to US$2 billion and received a US$3.9 billion dividend; a US$4 billion cost-sharing agreement between the companies followed in 2021.

An EPA proposal dated 20 May 2026 stated that many water systems could not meet the 2029 deadline for the PFOA and PFOS limits. the sources reviewed's entry for the proposal gives 2031 as the proposed date and 20 July 2026 as the end of the comment period.

  1. 1979A 3M report describes PFOS as more toxic than expected, as documented by ProPublica in 2024
  2. 2015Chemours separates from DuPont; Chemours later alleges understated PFAS liability and a US$3.9 billion dividend; US$4 billion sharing agreement in 2021
  3. 2022December: 3M announces it will stop PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025
  4. 2023March: AWWA says treatment will cost more than US$3.8 billion a year. Second quarter: 3M records a US$10.3 billion expense for the water-systems settlement
  5. 202429 March: final approval of the 3M settlement with public water systems. May: ProPublica reports on 3M's knowledge of PFOS toxicity
  6. 202620 May: EPA proposal states many systems cannot meet the 2029 deadline; comments due 20 July
  7. 2036End of the 3M payment schedule

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

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

Who bears the cost of treating PFAS in drinking water?
Company or project
3M

Its chief executive described the settlement as reducing risk and uncertainty.

Standard-setters and registries
American Water Works Association

Treating PFOA and PFOS would cost more than US$3.8 billion a year, and the burden would fall on customers.

Roll Call

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The settlement was presented as an effort to reduce risk and uncertainty.
    Mike Roman, chief executive of 3M

Recorded

  • Final approval of the 3M settlement: 29 March 2024; US$10.3 billion pre-tax present value over 13 years; US$12.5 billion nominal cap; schedule to 2036; covers all public water systems that have detected or may detect PFAS.
  • Second quarter 2023: 3M expense of US$10.3 billion (US$12.5 billion nominal, 5.2% discount, 2024 to 2036), US$14.19 per share.
  • AWWA, March 2023: PFOA and PFOS treatment to cost more than US$3.8 billion a year, with the burden on customers.
    Roll Call
  • 3M announced in December 2022 that it would stop PFAS manufacturing, with annual sales of about US$1.3 billion, by the end of 2025.
  • ProPublica, May 2024: 3M knew from 1970s animal experiments that PFOS was toxic; a 1979 report called it more toxic than expected.

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
3M settlement with public water systems, present value of payments over 13 years$10.3bn
Pre-tax. Nominal cap US$12.5 billion (12,500 million); schedule to 2036.
Currency: USD · Window: 2024 to 2036. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • 3m (2024-03): Its chief executive, Mike Roman, described the settlement as an effort to reduce risk and uncertainty.
  • 3m (2022-12): Announced it would stop PFAS manufacturing, with annual sales of about US$1.3 billion, by the end of 2025.
  • chemours (2019): Alleged that DuPont understated its PFAS liability by US$1 billion to US$2 billion in the 2015 separation and received a US$3.9 billion dividend.
  • awwa (2023-03): Said PFOA and PFOS treatment would cost more than US$3.8 billion a year and that the burden would fall on customers. · Roll Call
  • epa (2026-05-20): A proposal dated 20 May 2026 stated that many water systems could not meet the 2029 deadline.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2024-03-29Settled$10.3bn US$10.3 billion present value (US$ millions); nominal cap US$12.5 billion
    3M settlement with US public water systems over PFAS
    · Civil · US public water systems → 3M

    Final approval on 29 March 2024. The amount is the pre-tax present value of payments over 13 years; the payment schedule runs to 2036. The settlement covers all public water systems that have detected or may detect PFAS.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

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.

3M settlement, present value
US$10.3 billion
13 years of payments; nominal cap US$12.5 billion; final approval 29 March 2024
AWWA treatment cost estimate (2023)
More than US$3.8 billion a year
AWWA said the burden would fall on customers
Per-customer cost
Not stated
The sources read give no per-customer amount

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.

Figures

  • Insufficient Treatment cost 5yr range: Reported AWWA 2024 estimate over five years for more than 7,000 water entry points; secondary report only.

Accounts

  • Disputed Who bears the cost of treating PFAS in drinking water?

Record

  • None on record No per-customer amount is given in the sources read.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the split of the June 2023 DuPont, Chemours and Corteva settlement (Chemours about US$592 million, DuPont US$400 million, Corteva US$193 million) and its exclusion of personal injury and states' natural-resource claims. These details come only.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: an AWWA 2024 estimate that more than 7,000 water entry points need treatment, at US$37.1 billion to US$48.3 billion over five years (US$2.7 billion to US$3.5 billion a year), against an EPA estimate of US$1.5 billion a year. The figures come only.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: an EPA announcement of 14 May 2025 that it would keep the PFOA and PFOS limits, move the deadline from 2029 to 2031 and start a support programme for small systems called PFAS OUT.

Did the harm stop?

3M announced in December 2022 that it would stop PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025. the sources reviewed does not record whether the exit was completed.

Who paid?

3M under the settlement, with payments to 2036. AWWA said most of the treatment cost would fall to water customers.

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

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.

Institutions

EPA
The US Environmental Protection Agency.

Law and courts

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