In a landmark moment for the water industry and environmental justice, funds from the historic 3M and DuPont water settlements — the largest of their kind in U.S. history — are now being released to relieve water providers of some of the financial burden of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from their drinking water.
These settlements resulted from the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam multi-district litigation against PFAS manufacturers (AFF MDL No. 2873), where SL Environmental Law Group was part of a small group of firms representing more than 280 public agencies, investor-owned utilities and other impacted water systems in bringing claims against the manufacturers responsible for PFAS contamination.
As of today, most water systems that qualified for the funds under Phase 1 of the 3M and DuPont settlements are receiving about 20% of their total awards from 3M, with significant additional payments to be delivered over the coming months and beyond, as stipulated by the settlements. As part of this effort, SL Environmental Law Group anticipates recovering nearly $1 billion for its clients from the 3M and DuPont settlements alone, with additional recoveries expected later this year from settlements with other manufacturers.
“These settlements will help communities across the country address the devastating costs of PFAS contamination,” says Ken Sansone, senior partner at SL Environmental Law Group. “While they represent only part of a wider effort needed to address the environmental and public health crises caused by decades of PFAS use, this financial recovery is a crucial first step. SL Environmental Law Group remains committed to holding the PFAS manufacturers — not utilities and their ratepayers — accountable for the costs of contamination caused by PFAS.”
The AFFF MDL so far has led to several settlements for drinking water systems, demonstrating the effectiveness of litigation in helping agencies address contamination cleanup costs. This marks an important step in addressing PFAS contamination, and it has laid the groundwork for potential future settlements for other entities and operations affected by PFAS, such as wastewater, airports, landfills and fire training facilities.
Beyond helping its clients navigate the complex processes of the drinking water settlements, SL Environmental Law Group leveraged its knowledge of water utilities operations and its experience with water contamination litigation to ensure clients maximized the funds recovered. This included helping some clients obtain up to double their recovery from the settlements compared to their original estimate, and helping utilities identify and submit claims for a total of 1,600 currently inactive but potentially impacted water sources — eligible for participation in the settlements — that might have otherwise been overlooked.
As Phase 1 funds are being distributed, utilities who did not detect PFAS contamination in their water supplies until after the settlements were announced June 2023 remain eligible to participate in the 3M and DuPont settlements. These water systems can benefit from retaining legal counsel before the 2026 deadline for submitting their claims. Additionally, agencies affected by PFAS contamination in their wastewater and soil, such as airports, fire training facilities, landfills and wastewater utilities can retain legal counsel to pursue claims against the responsible manufacturers to mitigate risk and maximize recovery potential.
A full list of SL Environmental Law Group’s PFAS clients is available here. To learn more about cost recovery options through legal action against PFAS manufacturers, visit the SL Environmental Law Group website.
