Q&A w/ Clean Cape Fear: What's Going On With All These Billion $$ PFAS Settlements?

Recently 3M, DuPont, Corteva, and Chemours were all in the national news with huge announcements regarding PFAS settlements. 3M offered a $10 - $13 billion settlement and Chemours/DuPont/Corteva offered $1 billion. These settlements are related to multi-district litigation (MDL) directly associated with contamination from AFFF use--PFAS-containing firefighting foam.

Last week, 22 state attorneys general requested the judge overseeing those settlement terms reject the agreement because the dollar amounts were too low. NC's attorney general Josh Stein did not sign on to the rejection letter issued by those 22 states. This is because, in NC, water districts have their own independent legal authority. In states, like New Hampshire, the state government must sue on behalf of their local water providers.

So, what's going on in NC regarding all these settlement talks? AG Stein's office has six cases related to the MDL; however, NC is pursuing those cases independently from the MDL settlement talks--meaning those six cases are still pending. The six locations are:

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport

Charlotte Police and Fire Training Academy

Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base

Stanly County Airport

Piedmont-Triad International Airport

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune & Marine Corps Air Station New River

NC AG Stein also has a huge separate case against Chemours/DuPont/Corteva seeking natural resource damages for the decades of irresponsible releases from the Fayetteville Works location. This lawsuit was a direct result of actions taken by Clean Cape Fear and allies during screening events of the movie, Dark Waters, which brought actor/producer Mark Ruffalo to North Carolina.

Locally, Wilmington's Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and Brunswick County Public Utilities have their own lawsuits against Chemours/DuPont/Corteva--those lawsuits are also still pending.

Bottomline--NC is still fighting for justice. Thank you, AG Stein, for holding the line and fighting to protect NCians from irresponsible companies like DuPont and Chemours who abused our hospitality and stole our health.