Trials & Litigation
3M faces trial over ‘endlessly chemical compounds’ in firefighting foam in ‘bet-the-company’ litigation
3M faces its first trial out of about 4,000 lawsuits claiming that its cancer-linked “endlessly chemical compounds” referred to as PFAs have leached into groundwater.
The federal swimsuit going to trial June 5 in Charleston, South Carolina, mentioned 3M, a multinational conglomerate company, made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances utilized in firefighting foam that contaminated the water provide in Stuart, Florida, Bloomberg Law stories.
Town is looking for $105 million for a cleanup and as much as $500 million in punitive damages within the swimsuit. It claims that foam made with PFAs is a defectively designed product, and the corporate didn’t warn concerning the dangers.
The U.S. Environmental Safety Company cited studies exhibiting that publicity to sure PFAs might enhance the chance of some cancers, trigger developmental delays in youngsters and reduce fertility.
3M contends that PFAs are protected, they usually pose no vital well being menace.
Scott Summy of Baron & Budd, co-counsel for the plaintiffs within the multidistrict litigation that features the Stuart, Florida, case, told Law360 in January that subsequent in line are trials in fits by Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Ayer, Massachusetts.
The litigation “is giant, it’s sprawling, it continues to develop, and actually it’s mainly the biggest environmental situation happening within the nation on a cumulative foundation,” Summy mentioned.
Different defendants in PFAs litigation embrace DuPont de Nemours Inc., its spinoff the Chemours Co., and Chemguard Inc.
Bloomberg Legislation cited an estimate that 3M may very well be accountable for as much as $142.7 billion in cleanup prices nationwide associated to PFAs.
Chuck Tatelbaum, a chapter lawyer, instructed Bloomberg Legislation that chapter “will be the solely actual different to take care of this type of bet-the-company menace.”
