On June 28, 2023, a proposed settlement for close to $393 million was announced between Solvay and the State of New Jersey as part of the State’s effort to remediate the PFAs, “forever chemical” contamination. PFAs have been found to impact groundwater, including drinking water, and are found in many everyday products, including food packaging, furniture, non-stick cookware, and clothing, to name a few. These chemicals pose a health and safety risk to humans and animals as they do not break down in the human body or the environment over time.
If approved, the Solvay settlement will be the largest settlement of a single contaminated site in New Jersey history. The proposed Solvay settlement agreement is the latest of the three recent global settlements on state and federal levels relating to the remediation of the “forever chemicals” and is meant to remediate the PFAs contamination relating to its operations and restore natural resource damages. Of the $393 million, $100 million will be used to address PFAs impacts on certain public and private wells systems in Camden and Gloucester counties, $75 million for natural resource damages, with the remaining funds used to remediate the PFAS contamination.
On the national level, the 3M Company recently agreed to pay $12.5 billion to settle claims involving the contamination of “forever chemicals” in drinking water in a multi-district litigation pending in South Carolina. Chemours, DuPont, and Corteva agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion for claims relating to drinking groundwater contamination caused by their products. Notably, these suits only address the groundwater impacts on water systems with a current detection of PFAs.
These three significant settlements mark only the beginning of the forever chemical legal and regulatory saga, especially as states, including New Jersey, continue refining regulations addressing the impacts of PFAs contamination. Connell Foley has been a leader on this topic and will continue to address this issue as it evolves.
