California Agency Sues 3M, Others Over Groundwater Contamination

By Sebastian Malo | Reuters | November 9, 2021

Read the full article by Sebastian Malo (Reuters)

“California’s largest groundwater agency has sued 3M Co, Corteva Inc, the Chemours Co and other manufacturers and sellers of industrial and consumer products over claims they contain a toxic chemical that polluted drinking water in Los Angeles.

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), which oversees drinking water supplied to 43 cities in Los Angeles County, alleges in a complaint made public Tuesday that the companies knew products ranging from firefighting foam to textiles and non-stick cookware would pollute groundwater with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, but failed to warn against the risk.

The complaint, filed in Charleston, South Carolina federal court, seeks a ruling ordering the companies to pay for investigating and cleaning up wells that have been contaminated with the chemical compound. So far, WRD has approved $34 million in expenditures to construct water-treatment plants to remove PFAS, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit is the latest to be filed in South Carolina multidistrict litigation involving PFAS-related claims.”…

This content provided by the PFAS Project.