Wisconsin hails Tyco's $10 million PFAS settlement; City calls it 'a drop in the bucket'

Wisconsin reached a $10 million settlement with Tyco Fire Products over allegations that the company polluted property around its Marinette firefighting training facility for decades. Contamination of the area dates back to the 1960s.

In the state's 2022 lawsuit, Tyco, a Johnson Controls subsidiary, was accused of failing to notify regulators of a PFAS release and of failing to properly investigate or remediate the pollution, The Associated Press reported.

Calling the deal a "historic and important milestone," Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement, "Today's a key step toward making sure polluters are held accountable, take responsibility for their actions, and ensure Wisconsinites don't have to foot the bill for cleaning up the messes that others made."

The agreement sends the settlement money to a state PFAS cleanup trust. It also requires Tyco to continue providing replacement wells for safe drinking water, to continue mandated monitoring and reporting, and to take further cleanup steps.

Tyco says it has already spent more than $100 million dealing with the contamination and ended outdoor firefighting foam training in 2017.

Why is this important?

PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they do not easily break down in water, soil, or the human body.

Federal estimates suggest PFAS could be present in the water of up to half of U.S. households, and research has connected the chemicals to increased risks of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.

Those worries have lingered for years in Marinette, a city of about 11,000 near Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The settlement could help pay for cleanup, but it also highlights how costly and time-consuming contamination can become once it moves through a community.

What are people saying?

While Evers celebrated the deal as a milestone, Marinette residents expected a bigger payout.

As reported by the AP, Doug Oitzinger, a former Marinette mayor and president of Save Our Water, said, "The word of the day is underwhelming from our perspective. The dollar amount disappointed us. Ten million is kind of a drop in the bucket."

Oitzinger also said, "Legally you may have gotten off of some hooks, but morally you're not there. You're not there by a long shot."

The AP reported that a Tyco statement said that the company was pleased with the settlement. It believes that the settlement "reflects the extensive work Tyco has undertaken" to address PFAS pollution.

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