3M announced today it will “exit all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025” and will “work to discontinue use of PFAS across our product portfolio by the end of 2025.”

“The announcement is too little too late,” said Levin Papantonio Rafferty (LPR) Attorney and Shareholder Wes Bowden. “3M has polluted the entire world, and the blood of everyone in it, with toxic PFAS, and yet 3M still denies responsibility.

“We will make sure the entire story is told and hold them accountable in court.”
Judge Gave Nod to Evidence on Middlesex Water Co PFAS Case

Bowden and LPR Attorney and Shareholder Ned McWilliams represent individuals who have developed cancer and other illnesses from PFAS exposure, as well as government and private entities that are remediating PFAS contamination.

The LPR attorneys have been working with Co-Counsel Gary Douglas, of Douglas and London, to represent New Jersey’s Middlesex Water Company in a claim against 3M (Middlesex Water Company v. 3M Company Case No. 2:18-cv-15366). Middlesex Water alleges 3M was negligent in tainting the public water supply with forever chemicals—specifically, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).

“We’ve said all along this is one of the most egregious cases of corporate malfeasance in the history of America,” Douglas said. “The contamination they’ve caused is unprecedented in scope. They have contaminated virtually the entire planet, including everyone and everything on it. And we shall prove it.”

In mid-December 2022, LPR and Douglas and London won on a Daubert motion raised by 3M to exclude the presentation of allegedly unqualified evidence in this case. U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin ruled that the theories that the experts are going to opine on in the case are based on sound, scientific methodology, and the plaintiff’s counsel can present that evidence to the court.

This is the same group of experts that will be in the multidistrict litigation (MDL), which puts LPR and Douglas and London, the firms leading this litigation, on the right track to success.

“We look forward to proving our case to the jury, and we’re happy the court agreed with us that our experts are basing their opinions on sound, scientific principles and methodologies,” Bowden said.

Judge Rejected 3M’s Motion to Dismiss in November

In November, the New Jersey federal judge denied 3M’s motion for summary judgment in the water contamination case.

“3M mistakenly believed that unless Middlesex could prove exactly where, when, and which 3M PFAS product was responsible for the contamination, that they could walk away scot-free,” explained LPR’s McWilliams. “Unfortunately for 3M, we presented overwhelming evidence establishing that 3M was the most likely source.”

Addressing the dispute of whether the PFOA and PFOS in Middlesex Water’s wells were manufactured and distributed by 3M, Judge Padin wrote that proximate cause could be established “based on a handful of facts in the record.”

PFAS Exists in the Blood of Most Americans

PFAS has a long history of use in the manufacturing of many products. This usage, combined with forever chemicals’ quality of persisting and accumulating in nature, mean most humans have suffered exposure to the harmful substances. Pew Research reports that PFAS exist in the blood of 97% of Americans.

At least 12 PFAS have been detected in blood serum since 1999, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Four PFAS were found in the blood serum of almost all the people tested through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.