Chemical companies’ PFAS payouts are huge – but the problem is even bigger

3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva have agreed settlement in the billions for polluting drinking water with forever chemicals'

When the chemical giant 3M agreed in early June to pay up to $12.5bn to settle a lawsuit over PFAS contamination in water systems across the nation, it was hailed by attorneys as the largest drinking water settlement in American history", and viewed as a significant win for the public in the battle against toxic forever chemicals".

A second June settlement with the PFAS manufacturers DuPont, Chemours and Corteva tallied a hefty $1.1bn. But while the sums are impressive on their face, they represent just a fraction of the estimated $400bn some estimate will be needed to clean and protect the nation's drinking water. Orange county, California, alone put the cost of cleaning its system at $1bn.