SL Environmental Law Group Announces Award of More Than $900M to Clients from PFAS Water Contamination Settlements

More than 200 SL Clients Nationwide to Receive Total of Nearly $1B of $6B from First Phase of Historic 3M and DuPont Settlements

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San Francisco, CA – June 19,2025 – In a landmark moment for the water industry and environmental justice, funds from the historic 3M and DuPont water settlements – the largest of their kind in U.S. history – are now being released to relieve water providers of some of the financial burden of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from their drinking water. These settlements resulted from the Aqueous Film-FormingFoam multi-district litigation against PFAS manufacturers (AFF MDL No. 2873), where SL was part of a small group of firms representing more than 280 public agencies, investor-owned utilities, and other impacted water systems in bringing claims against the manufacturers responsible for PFAS contamination.

 

As of this date, most water systems that qualified for the funds under Phase 1 of the 3M and DuPont settlements are receiving about 20% of their total awards from 3M, with significant additional payments to be delivered over the coming months and beyond, as stipulated by the settlements. As part of this effort, SLEnvironmental Law Group anticipates recovering nearly $1 billion for its clients from the 3M and DuPont settlements alone, with additional recoveries expected later this year from settlements with other manufacturers.

 

“These settlements will help communities across the country address the devastating costs of PFAS contamination,” said Ken Sansone, senior partner at SL Environmental Law Group.“While they represent only part of a wider effort needed to address the environmental and public health crises caused by decades of PFAS use, this financial recovery is a crucial first step. SL Environmental Law Group remains committed to holding the PFAS manufacturers – not utilities and their ratepayers– accountable for the costs of contamination caused by PFAS.”

 

Currently representing more than 280 public agencies and other organizational clients affected by PFAS contamination, SL Environmental Law Group has been working for nearly a decade to hold 3M, DuPont, and other PFAS manufacturers accountable for decades of contamination. Despite mounting evidence of PFAS toxicity and persistence, these manufacturers continued to produce and distribute PFAS chemicals for decades.

 

The AFFF MDL so far has led to several settlements for drinking water systems, demonstrating the effectiveness of litigation in helping agencies address contamination clean-up costs. This marks an important step in addressing PFAS contamination, and it has laid the groundwork for potential future settlements for other entities and operations affected by PFAS, such as wastewater, airports, landfills, and fire training facilities.

 

SL Environmental Law Group brings to its clients a deep knowledge of how municipalities and other public agencies operate, their complex regulatory and compliance needs, and determining the costs of treatment systems and other remediation necessary to address contamination. With more than two decades of experience in environmental contamination litigation, to date the firm has helped more than 400 clients recover over $2billion in settlements and trial awards, including the awards from these settlements.

 

Beyond helping its clients navigate the complex processes of the drinking water settlements, SL Environmental LawGroup leveraged its knowledge of water utilities operations and its experience with water contamination litigation to ensure clients maximized the funds recovered. This included:

- Helping some clients obtain up to double their recovery from the settlements compared to their original estimate.

- Helping utilities identify and submit claims for a total of 1,600 currently inactive but potentially impacted water sources—eligible for participation in the settlements--that might have otherwise been overlooked.

 

As Phase 1 funds are being distributed, utilities who did not detect PFAS contamination in their water supplies until after the settlements were announced June 2023 remain eligible to participate in the 3M and DuPont settlements. These water systems can greatly benefit from retaining legal counsel before the 2026 deadline for submitting their claims. Additionally, agencies affected by PFAS contamination in their wastewater and soil, such as airports, fire training facilities, landfills and wastewater utilities are also encouraged to retain legal counsel to pursue claims against the responsible manufacturers to mitigate risk and maximize their recovery potential.

 

A full list of SL Environmental Law Group’s PFAS clients is available here. To learn more about cost recovery options through legal action against PFAS manufacturers, visit the SL Environmental Law Group website.