3M agrees to pay N.J. up to $450 million for PFAS pollution in Salem and Middlesex counties

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Chemical manufacturer 3M agreed to pay New Jersey up to $450 million for PFAS contamination in Salem and Middlesex counties.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin called it a “historic” settlement, as it’s the largest to date for PFAS and water contamination in the state.

“Today’s settlement should send a very clear signal to corporate polluters who contaminate our drinking water,” Platkin said. “If you harm our residents, if you turn a profit at the expense of their interests and their health, if you violate our laws and you put the health and safety of our residents at risk, we’re going to hold you accountable.”

Platkin said PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, are “likely carcinogens” and are linked to developmental issues in infants.

PFAS chemicals have tainted the country’s water, air and soil for decades. They are often referred to as “forever” chemicals because they do not break down in the environment.

The consequences of exposure to PFAS are long-lasting — the compounds can stay in the human bloodstream for years. The chemicals have been linked to some cancers, as well as thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis.

The chemicals have been widely used in consumer products like nonstick cookware, flame-retardant fabrics, and some food packaging, as well as in fire suppressing foam. Water supplies in communities located near military bases and airports have been particularly impacted, as fire suppressing foam has contaminated the groundwater.

3M supplied the PFAS that contaminated groundwater in and around DuPont’s Chambers Works plant along the Delaware River in Deepwater, New Jersey. It also provided PFAS for the Parlin site in Sayreville, N.J. Chemours acquired the Chambers Works site in 2015. DuPont continues to operate the plant in Sayreville.

In 2019, New Jersey sued all three companies. The settlement allows 3M to avoid the trial, scheduled to begin next week. DuPont and Chemours are not part of the settlement.

“The makers of PFAS chemicals knew just how poisonous these substances were and yet they produced and thoughtlessly released them into New Jersey’s environment anyway because the getting was just too good,” said Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner.

LaTourette said the chemicals, which number in the thousands, are found everywhere in the state.

“Leaching from landfills, and even in the soils of distant remote New Jersey forests that should be pristine,” LaTourette said. “We didn’t ask for this, but we surely will hold those who have created this pollution accountable.”

In 2020, the EPA found PFAS chemicals far exceeded the state’s limits in drinking water wells near the Chambers Works site.

The settlement funds will pay for cleaning up drinking water supplies.

3M says that it will end all production of PFAS by the end of this year and that “the agreement is not an admission of liability.”

WHYY News’ Zoe Read contributed reporting.