Minnesota is taking 3M back to court, saying the company's Cottage Grove plant is still releasing "forever chemicals" into waters connected to the Mississippi River.
The new lawsuit comes years after a major settlement, with the state arguing the pollution never stopped.
What happened?
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency filed a new lawsuit in Washington County District Court, accusing 3M of violating permits as well as state and federal law through PFAS contamination tied to its Cottage Grove manufacturing facility.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are often called "forever chemicals" because they can remain in the environment for extremely long periods of time. According to the state, those chemicals are harming both groundwater and surface water in Minnesota.
According to Pioneer Press, the lawsuit says "3M told MPCA that it was aware of a previously undisclosed discharge of chemical constituents from the (Cottage Grove) facility," adding that the discharges "continue to this day."
Minnesota had already brought a 2010 natural resource damages case against 3M, which ended in an $850 million settlement in 2018. Regulators now say the company disclosed in 2020 that there had been another release that had not previously been revealed.
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The lawsuit also says 3M has "47 separate industrial and stormwater outfalls" that drain into the Mississippi River.
Why does it matter?
PFAS contamination has become a major public health and environmental issue because the chemicals can end up in drinking water, rivers, soil, and food systems.
In the lawsuit, the state said PFAS exposure has been associated with "liver damage, altered cholesterol levels, thyroid disease, immune system impacts, decreased fertility, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and reduced birth weight."
Minnesota is seeking daily penalties of up to $30,000 for each violation, along with a court order requiring 3M to protect state waters from further harm.
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Minnesota regulators say the contamination is ongoing and serious enough to warrant another major legal fight, even after the earlier multimillion-dollar settlement.
The lawsuit refers to "previously undisclosed" discharges that "continue to this day." The state is seeking steep daily penalties and an order to stop further harm to Minnesota waters.
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