On the heels of having done so in the DuPont Settlement worth $1.185B, the MDL Court today issued an order granting preliminary approval to the 3M Settlement worth up to $12.5B
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Douglas & London, P.C., is pleased to announce that the Court overseeing the AFFF MDL has granted preliminary approval to the proposed PFAS settlement, with 3M Company for up to $12.5B. The Court had previously granted preliminary approval for a $1.185B settlement with DuPont on August 22, 2023. As a result, a total upwards of $13.6B in settlement funds are now potentially available to remediate widespread PFAS contamination in our nation’s drinking water. Notice to potential class members is now authorized to commence, and the settlements are well on their way towards final approval and implementation.
The settlement class consists of Public Water Systems across the nation who serve at least 25 people and either have a known PFAS detection already in their drinking water, or do not yet know whether their drinking water is contaminated but who are or shortly will be required to test for same.
Douglas & London have been involved in PFAS litigation and related environmental contaminant cases for a decade now and both founding partners Gary Douglas and Michael London have held key leadership roles in multiple cases nationally. Gary Douglas secured the historic first verdicts in the C8/PFAS cases, in which DuPont had been dumping toxic waste into Ohio River communities for decades. This story was told in the major motion picture Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo, and was the subject of the book Exposure by Rob Bilott as well as the documentary film The Devil We Know.
Mr. Douglas was selected as Lead Trial Counsel for what would have been the first public water provider case ever tried in the AFFF MDL, which was scheduled to begin the day settlement was announced. Mr. London was appointed Co-Lead Counsel of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC), and – with the recent issuance of the orders granting preliminary approval – Class Counsel. Mr. London spearheaded negotiations of this very complex settlement, the outcome of which is the largest drinking water settlement in history, a resounding victory for not just plaintiffs but for the right for safe, clean drinking water for every American.
These Court orders come after a hard-fought litigation battle. The AFFF MDL was established in 2018 and is overseen by the Honorable Richard Gergel in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Thanks in large part to Mr. Douglas and Mr. London’s leadership, the litigation team – nearly 40 million pages of documents produced and over 160 depositions later – was able to secure legal victory against several of the PFAS manufacturers’ defenses. The proposed settlements were announced in late June and early July.
On August 22, 2023, the Court issued the preliminary approval order for the DuPont settlement, including approval of the form and contents of notice. On August 23, 2023, the PEC announced the launch of a website, www.PFASWaterProviderSettlement.com, which houses information relevant to both the 3M and DuPont settlements. The website includes not only documents filed to the Court docket, but also reference material and information that is designed to educate potential class members and the public.
One such tool is the Estimated Allocation Range Tables, which detail a good faith estimate of what a class member may receive on a per-well basis. It is not possible to determine an allocated award for any given class member at this time because such calculation requires all claims forms to be received and processed. These estimates are subject to change as more data is collected, but the Tables give public water systems the ability to better plan for necessary remediation efforts.
“Our public water systems need financial assistance now to protect our nation’s drinking water, which is being threatened by PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals’,” said Mr. Douglas. “Through the release of these allocation estimates, public water systems can have a clearer understanding of what they should be expecting from the settlements and can strategize accordingly.”
Distributed funds can be used for testing, as well as for installing and operating filtration systems to meet forthcoming standards from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“These settlements create a substantial funding source that will be essential to addressing the public health crisis created by PFAS in untreated drinking water,” said Mr. London. “But they’re only part of the solution. Federal government funding will also be available to help ensure that our communities have access to safe, clean drinking water.”
The settlement agreement with 3M, totaling up to $12.5 billion or approximately 22 percent of the company’s total market capitalization, was approved by the Court on August 29, 2023.
More information on each of the settlements can be found here.
About Douglas & London, P.C.
Douglas & London is among the most distinguished and accomplished plaintiffs’ law firms in the country. Since opening our practice in 2002, our indefatigable attorneys and legal support staff have earned us the distinction of being among the top mass tort and trial firms in the country. We have won trailblazing verdicts, securing millions of dollars in verdicts and billions of dollars in settlements for our clients and helping them put their lives and communities back together. We specialize in complex litigation, including pharmaceutical, medical device, and general products liability cases, as well as environmental and toxic tort litigation and medical malpractice. The firm members are often appointed lead counsel in the largest multi-district cases and often designated as trial counsel in some of the largest cases in the civil justice system.
Contacts
Firmani + Associates
[email protected]
