CORDOVA, Ill. — 3M announced on Thursday it has reached a $10.3 billion dollar settlement for claims of PFAS chemicals contaminating public water systems - also known as "forever chemicals" due to the difficulty of removing them from the environment.
The money will be paid out to communities across the country over the next 13 years.
At the crux of this settlement are the dangerous group of chemicals also known as PFAS. They've been used in almost everything we interact with in our day to day life, from cleaning products to nonstick cookware, makeup, shampoo, nail polish and even rain jackets and umbrellas.
Once these chemicals make their way into the environment, it's nearly impossible to remove them. It's estimated nearly all Americans, including newborns, have some level of PFAS chemicals in their bodies.
And these substances have been linked to a multitude of health risks including liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility and cancer.
Last year, News 8 spoke to one Cordova resident who says numerous people in her same neighborhood have been diagnosed with cancer, including herself. Now, she's left wondering whether or not the chemicals from the 3M facility played a part in the community's health issues.
Under the settlement, 3M does not admit any liability.
The company has previously agreed to stop PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025.
Cordova's 3M facility is one of the plants where such chemicals are manufactured.
Back in March 2022, the Illinois attorney general filed a lawsuit against 3M for the company's improper handling of PFAS chemicals at the Cordova facility.
In the suit, the state alleged the company knew about the dangers of the chemicals, yet continued to improperly dispose of and dump PFAS into the water supplies around Cordova for more than half a century.
According to the lawsuit, 3M knew of the danger PFAS presented to the public as early as the 1950s. Just two decades later, the company had confirmed that the chemicals were toxic to various fish and aquatic wildlife.
"3M conducted multiple studies throughout 1975 and 1976 that confirmed the presence of PFAS in blood of the workers who handled PFAS at levels between 50 to 1000 times higher than 'normal' levels," the suit states.
Despite this, 3M continued to create, discharge and dispose of PFAS at its Cordova location all while promoting the chemicals as being safe to manufacture and use, argued Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office.
June 2020 sample results for a groundwater monitoring well in the Cordova plant's manufacturing area found "significantly higher" levels of PFAS than what the Illinois EPA's current Health Advisory Levels call for.
For one specific chemical, known as PFOA, the Health Advisory Level stands at just two nanograms per liter of water, with a nanogram being one-billionth of a gram. In the June 2020 sample, scientists found 5,570 nanograms of PFOA per liter of water.
And those chemicals have been found in nearby residential wells.
Then in November of 2022, the EPA and 3M reached an agreement that 3M would pay for the testing and replacement of contaminated private drinking wells within a three mile radius of the Cordova facility. That agreement also led to 3M agreeing to pay for the city of Camanche to update and replace parts of its drinking system and wells.
So how did we get to the $10.3 billion lawsuit?
Around 4,000 lawsuits have been filed against 3M by states and cities across the country for contamination claims. The first of those trials was set to begin on June 5 in a South Carolina federal court. But the judge granted both parties a 21-day extension to reach a deal. The settlement was then announced during that time period.
Funds from the settlement will be distributed over a 13-year period to help communities test and clean up the chemicals.
3M has not announced who will be eligible for those funds, nor any sort of process for towns to request financial compensation. But the company has said the money will be available to cities, communities and states for the cleanup and treatment of water contaminated with PFAS chemicals.
News 8 reached out to town leaders in Cordova, Port Byron, Rapids City and Princeton, IA, to see if they had heard if any money would go their way. All were unsure at this time or unavailable for comment.
If the settlement is approved by the court, it would put an end to some legal claims against the company.
But AG Raoul's office confirmed to News 8 on Friday that the state would continue moving forward with several lawsuits against the company. One, being the March 2022 case surrounding the Cordova facility, and the other two coming from January and April, also discussing the presence of PFAS chemicals in Illinois and naming other companies in the suit as well.
3M's settlement announcement comes just weeks after a similar agreement with Chemours, DuPont and Corteva. On June 2, those companies announced they would pay $1.19 billion to help remove PFAS from public drinking water systems.
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