Top chemical companies to pay $1 billion settlement over water contamination claims: report

Following accusations of water contamination, three top chemical companies — Chemours, DuPont and Corteva — agreed to pay $1.19 billion settlement Friday, The New York Times reports.

Per The Times, the major companies expect the billion dollar fund to help remove toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from public drinking water systems," as "PFAS have been linked to liver damage, weakened immune systems and several forms of cancer, among other harms, and are referred to as forever chemicals because they linger in the human body and the environment."

However, Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Erik D. Olson "said the settlement, combined with money recently appropriated by Congress to help with contamination, would 'take a bite out of the problem," before adding, "it's not going to fully solve it."

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Furthermore, The Times reports:

The preliminary settlement with Chemours, DuPont and Corteva, all of which declined to comment beyond the announcement, may not be the end of the costs for those companies, either. The deal, which requires approval by a judge, would resolve lawsuits involving water systems that already had detectable levels of PFAS contamination, as well as those required to monitor for contamination by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Still, Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer advising the involved plaintiffs insisted the agreement is "an incredibly important next step in what has been decades of work to try to make sure that the costs of this massive PFAS 'forever chemical' contamination are not borne by the victims but are borne by the companies who caused the problem."

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The New York Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required).