Groundbreaking $2 Billion Environmental Settlement Makes History and Holds Polluters Accountable for Contamination in New Jersey

The National Law Review | August 8, 2025

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"Monday, August 4, the State of New Jersey announced a landmark settlement with DuPont and related companies (“DuPont Defendants”) valued at more than $2 billion, the largest environmental recovery for a single State – and one of the top-20 largest settlements of any kind – in U.S. history.

The landmark agreement settles the State’s case against DuPont regarding PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), also known as “forever chemicals,” contamination across the State and addresses PFAS and other contamination at and from four historical DuPont industrial sites: Chambers Works, Parlin, Pompton Lakes Works, and Repauno. DuPont’s decades-long use and discharge of PFAS has polluted drinking water and natural resources throughout New Jersey.

PFAS are known for their resistance to degradation, meaning they persist in the environment. Several PFAS, like PFOA, have been linked to health effects including kidney and testicular cancer, and reproduction issues. In 2005, the US EPA found that DuPont concealed the toxicological effects of PFOA, including that the chemical passes through the human placenta. New Jersey was the first State to pass a PFAS drinking water standard in 2018. The federal government passed a regulation establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels (“MCLs”) for certain PFAS, including PFOA, in 2024. In 2025, USEPA confirmed that PFOA is likely to be carcinogenic to humans following “the EPA’s systematic review of over 780 human and animal health studies demonstrated PFOA exposure elicits adverse noncancer and cancer health effects.”