"The Settlement Agreement provides money not only to parties already affected by PFAS, but to those which may be so affected soon," Gergel wrote in his order. "The settlement agreement implements allocation procedures objectively derived from flow rates of impacted water sources and PFAS concentrations which will be employed to allocate funds among eligible class members under the guidance of the Court-Appointed Claims Administrator, himself under the oversight of the court-appointed special master."
He added that the settlement treats class members equitably to each other based on objective criteria.
3M said in a news release that the finalized agreement will support public water systems that detect PFAS at any level now or in the future, and will benefit U.S.-based systems that provide drinking water to Americans across the country. The firm added that the agreement received overwhelming support and participation from U.S. PWS, with the court resolving a small number of objections that were raised in favor of the settlement.
"This is yet another important step forward for 3M as we continue to deliver on our priorities," 3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman said in a statement. "The final approval of this settlement and continued progress toward exiting all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025 will further our efforts to reduce risk and uncertainty as we move forward."
As previously disclosed, 3M recorded an accrual of $10.3 billion for the payments, reflecting the pre-tax present value of the expected payments over 13 years under the agreement.
Payments under the agreement are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2024, 3M said, provided there are no pending appeals of the final approval order. 3M also continues to actively engage in insurance recovery activities.
3M has a long history in the fluoroelastomer and fluoropolymer arenas with its wide-ranging Dyneon family of materials, which find critical applications in such areas as medical technologies, semiconductors, batteries, phones, automobiles, aerospace, and oil and gas extractions. But it will exit those businesses by the end of 2025.
The so-called "forever chemicals" have been the subject of much litigation and regulatory efforts in recent years.
In one case, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals' Sixth Circuit in November threw out a class-action lawsuit filed by a Glendale, Ohio, firefighter against 10 chemical companies—including 3M and DuPont—over exposure to PFAS chemicals.
The same month, Chemours Co., DuPont and Corteva Inc. reached a $110 million settlement with the state of Ohio to resolve claims over the production and sale of PFAS substances.
More recently, the European Chemicals Agency on March 19 issued details about the "next steps" under its proposals to impose wide-ranging restrictions on the use of PFAS chemicals.
The term PFAS applies to a group of 10,000 or more chemicals, and some of these were found to be carcinogens or cause harm to unborn children, have a detrimental effect on organs and have made their way into drinking water sources in levels beyond what is considered safe.