In a Landmark PFAS Payout, 3M to Pay New Jersey $450 Million

In a historic settlement, chemical giant 3M has agreed to pay up to $450 million to New Jersey to resolve claims over its role in decades-long contamination from toxic “forever chemicals,” just days before a scheduled trial that would have been the first in the country to determine environmental PFAS liability to a state.

The settlement, announced by New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, is among the largest ever secured by the state for natural resource damages. It stems from 3M’s supply of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, to the DuPont Chambers Works facility in Salem County, a site now operated by Chemours.

PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals used to make products resistant to water, grease and heat, like nonstick cookware, firefighting foam and waterproof fabrics. What makes them useful also makes them dangerous: they don’t break down naturally and can build up in people, animals and the environment over time. 

Even small amounts have been linked to serious health risks, including cancer, hormone disruption and immune system problems. They are also notoriously difficult to remove from the environment.

“If you harm our residents, if you turn a profit at the expense of their interest and their health, if you violate our laws and you put the health and safety of our residents at risk—we’re going to hold you accountable,” said Platkin.

3M’s Role

The settlement announced Tuesday is the largest PFAS-related and largest clean water-related settlement in the state’s history, Platkin said, after 3M paid $10.3 billion in a federal settlement to resolve nationwide claims in 2023, and amid mounting lawsuits across the country holding chemical companies accountable for widespread PFAS contamination.

The New Jersey DEP alleged that 3M knowingly supplied PFAS compounds to the Chambers Works plant for use in manufacturing products like Teflon. 

For decades, those chemicals were discharged into the surrounding air, water and soil. The facility, originally operated by DuPont and later by Chemours, has a long and controversial history of pollution stretching back to the early 1900s when it started as a dye manufacturing plant.

According to the state’s 2019 lawsuit, 3M not only supplied the PFAS chemicals but continued to do so despite knowing their health and environmental risks.

In a statement, 3M pointed out that it has not admitted liability under the settlement terms and said it is resolving the claims to avoid prolonged litigation.

A Landmark Settlement

The deal marks a significant moment in the nationwide reckoning over PFAS pollution. Had it gone to trial on May 19, the case would have been the first in the United States to test whether a chemical manufacturer could be held liable by a state for PFAS environmental contamination.

The stakes were high not just for New Jersey but for other states watching closely. 

Over 15,000 PFAS-related lawsuits are pending nationwide, many targeting the same defendants—3M, DuPont and Chemours. 

While 3M settled this case, the other two companies remain defendants in New Jersey’s litigation, and no agreement has been reached with them.

The funds from 3M will be paid over 25 years, with a substantial chunk—$225 million to $275 million—disbursed within the first four years, said Platkin. Of that, up to $170 million is earmarked for PFAS abatement efforts led by the DEP.

Key allocations include: $140 million for natural resource damages, $50 million to $100 million at the DEP’s discretion for projects to protect public health and the environment and $40 million to cover litigation costs and penalties.

The money will fund testing, treatment and cleanup of contaminated drinking water and groundwater systems, particularly in communities near industrial discharge sites.

While the 3M settlement is a breakthrough, the broader litigation against DuPont and Chemours continues. State officials indicated they are prepared to go to trial if a similar resolution is not reached.

“We didn’t ask for this, but we surely will hold those who have created this pollution accountable,” LaTourette said. “We are hardly done. We will continue to hold Dupont, Chemours and their progeny companies accountable. Expect that they come to the table or sit before a judge and jury.”

New Jersey’s Aggressive PFAS Action

New Jersey has been a national leader in regulating PFAS. The state has some of the highest measured PFAS levels in the country, partly due to its dense industrial history and sprawling chemical infrastructure.

In recent years, New Jersey became one of the first states to establish enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS, adopting limits for different types of PFAS—PFNA in 2018, and for PFOA and PFOS in 2020. The state also maintains a public database to track PFAS contamination and cleanup efforts across affected sites. Violations of these standards can result in penalties of up to $50,000 per day under the state’s Water Pollution Control Act.

“The makers of PFAS forever chemicals knew just how poisonous these substances were and yet they produced and thoughtlessly released them into New Jersey’s environment anyway, because the getting was just too good. Well, not for us,” said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. 

The state is also pursuing separate settlements, including a $393 million deal proposed in 2023 with Solvay Specialty Polymers over PFAS contamination in Gloucester County in southern New Jersey. It also has an ongoing lawsuit against 3M and other manufacturers over PFAS pollution caused by aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, a firefighting product. The case was filed in 2019 and is now being handled alongside similar lawsuits in a federal court in South Carolina.

When $450 Million Isn’t Enough

Environmental advocates welcomed the settlement but stressed it is only the beginning of a much longer process. It may even be insufficient in the end if more contamination is found than what was considered in the settlement.

“We really don’t know whether the money being provided through this settlement, and even the nationwide deal, is enough. That depends on how much more contamination is found,” said Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

In Minnesota, the “ground zero” of 3M’s PFAS production, state officials have estimated cleanup costs could reach $28 billion over 20 years, raising questions about whether New Jersey’s $450 million will go far enough.

Carluccio then pointed to more areas in New Jersey recently testing positive for  PFAS, highlighting persistent gaps in government-run testing.

“New locations are being discovered all the time,” she said. “New Jersey regulations do not require the testing of individual privately owned water wells until there’s a real estate transaction. It means that we’ll be getting all this information in dribs and drabs forever.”

While she applauds New Jersey’s legal action, Carluccio emphasized that stopping future contamination requires more than money. She called on New Jerseyans not to wait on the state to test their water and to proactively have water sources tested. A water test costs around $250 to $300—an expense that she said was worth the price and could even be reimbursed in certain cases.

“We’re really still in crisis in terms of being able to identify the scope of the PFAS contamination issue in New Jersey and nationwide,” she said.