On June 22, 2023, a settlement valued up to $12.5B was announced with the 3M Company to address contamination of U.S. public drinking water supplies with PFAS “forever chemicals.” The settlement was announced in the context of ongoing multi-district litigation (MDL) against 3M by public water providers all over the country claiming that PFAS released from aqueous film-forming firefighting foam (AFFF) has contaminated drinking water supplies (the AFFF MDL).

Taft partner Rob Bilott, who serves as the court-appointed Advisory Counsel to plaintiffs in the AFFF MDL, stated that: “This settlement with 3M is a significant step forward in what has been many years of work to make sure that those responsible for the contamination of our nation’s drinking water supply with PFAS “forever chemicals” pay for the damage – not the victims of the contamination.”

Bilott helped lead the first litigation in the country against 3M for PFAS contamination in Minnesota, which began in 2005, and has been litigating these issues and working to raise awareness of the threat to public health and the environment from PFAS “forever chemicals” for over two decades, as chronicled in his book, “Exposure” (2019), the movie, “Dark Waters” (2019), and the documentary “The Devil We Know” (2018). Bilott and his co-counsel team are currently representing numerous water providers and others across the country injured by PFAS “forever chemicals” contamination.