Update on Multi-District Litigation - 6/15/23
In July 2022, a complaint was filed on behalf of the Town of Princeton in federal court against several parties, including 3M and DuPont, seeking to recover the costs incurred by the Town to investigate and address the detections of PFAS in the Town Campus well and nearby private wells, soil and surface water. The case was combined in the AFFF Multi-District Litigation (MDL) with other cases from around the country against the same parties. There have been some important developments recently in the MDL.
First, a tentative proposed settlement has been announced through which DuPont and related entities will pay $1.185 billion to resolve claims by public water systems affected by PFAS in their drinking water supplies. The Town of Princeton is in this group because of the impact to the Town Campus well. Under this proposed settlement, which needs to be approved by the court overseeing the MDL before it is finalized, eligible public water systems who elect to participate would receive payments from the settlement fund based principally on a formula related to the level of PFAS and the flow rate of the impacted water source. Participating systems will then receive a pro-rata payment from the settlement fund based on this scoring. Importantly, approximately 5% of the settlement fund will be set aside for "special needs" incurred by the claimant, and the attorneys representing the Town are working to have the scope of this fund include the kinds of costs incurred by the Town with regard to AFFF and PFAS. The timeline for approving and implementing the proposed settlement is expected to take many months, if not longer.
Second, on the eve of a major trial, it was announced this week that 3M is negotiating a potential settlement of the claims against them. The MDL court has allowed three weeks for the parties to develop a proposal. It is anticipated that this settlement would be for a larger amount, because 3M has been identified as being by far the company most responsible for the impacts of AFFF. Again, the attorneys representing the Town are working to have the scope of this settlement also include the kinds of costs incurred by the Town with regard to AFFF and PFAS.
Additional details on both matters will be provided when they are available.