EMMAUS, Pa. — It’s been a week since 3M Co. reached a $10.3 billion settlement in a slew of lawsuits over drinking water contamination with PFAS, also known as forever chemicals.
But a Lehigh Valley municipality is still waiting for a payout, and it could be a while.
- 3M Co. last week reached a $10.3 billion settlement in a slew of water contamination lawsuits
- Emmaus, one of the parties, is waiting for its settlement, and it might take a long time
- The cost to treat drinking water in Emmaus is estimated between $24 million to $30 million over the next 20 years
“We probably won’t hear anything for quite some [time], as they just announced it,” said Emmaus Borough Manager Shane Pepe. “There is no settlement as to who will get any amount as of now.”
Announced June 22, 3M Co. committed up to $10.3 billion, payable over 13 years, for remediation of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The manufactured chemicals have been used in consumer products since the 1940s, but have been nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they are incredibly slow to break down once introduced into the environment, and can contaminate groundwater. PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers.
"This is an important step forward for 3M, which builds on our actions that include our announced exit of PFOA and PFOS manufacturing more than 20 years ago, our more recent investments in state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations and our announcement that we will exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025."3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman
While the agreement is not an admission of liability, and it is still subject to court approval. The settlement also:
- Provides funding for public water suppliers (PWS) nationwide that have detected PFAS in drinking water, as well as for eligible PWS that may detect PFAS at any level in the future
- Provides funding for PWS across the country for PFAS treatment technologies without the need for further litigation
- Resolves current and future drinking water claims by PWS related to PFOA, PFOS, and all other PFAS, including those that are included as a portion of the Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) multi-district litigation based in Charleston, South Carolina
- Provides funding for PWS nationwide to conduct testing for PFAS
"This is an important step forward for 3M, which builds on our actions that include our announced exit of PFOA and PFOS manufacturing more than 20 years ago, our more recent investments in state-of-the-art water filtration technology in our chemical manufacturing operations and our announcement that we will exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025,” said 3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman.
Emmaus in April 2022 filed a lawsuit against 3M Co., DuPont and a slew of other PFAS manufacturers, alleging that the companies knew about the link between their firefighting foam and the dangers of PFAS since the 1950s, but continued to sell them anyway.
In Emmaus, the foam was used for decades at the Klines Lane firefighting training grounds, as well as other locations.
During a March interview with LehighValleyNews.com about the $12 million cost to remediate the borough’s drinking water, Pepe said “it might be 10 years before we see results” of the settlement.
At the end of last year, 3M officials announced they would stop manufacturing PFAS and “discontinue the use of PFAS across its product portfolio by the end of 2025.”
The costs to clean Emmaus’ drinking water continues to grow due to more stringent regulations.
In mid-March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to set nationwide maximum levels of PFAS allowable in public drinking water. The announcement came about three months after Pennsylvania adopted new regulations, but the EPA’s are almost four times lower.
In May, Emmaus officials said remediation estimates had climbed to between $24 million and $45 million. Later that month,Borough Council voted unanimously to treat borough wells, which could cost $24 million to $30 million over 20 years.
