Read the full article by Ruth Finch (CapRadio)
“Forever chemicals went unchecked for decades and now water regulators and chemical companies across the country are grappling with the fallout.
One chemical manufacturing company, 3M, was ordered to pay out between $10.5 to $12.5 billion to roughly 12,000 public water utilities across the country. The utilities filed a class action lawsuit over groundwater contamination, which 3M will be paying through 2037.
In 2022, the city of Sacramento filed their part in the lawsuit against the chemical manufacturer for the contamination of Sacramento’s groundwater. In 2023, they secured a $10.4 million settlement.
‘[Sacramento’s] Water Resources have been contaminated by PFAS compounds approaching and exceeding California’s notification and/or response levels,’ the lawsuit reads. That legal complaint was filed on November 1, 2022 in federal court, alongside a class of other water suppliers throughout the country that have been affected by PFAS.
Eleven wells were identified as wells contaminated with PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, by the City of Sacramento in the 2022 lawsuit. Drinking water data analyzed by CapRadio from the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water shows that at one time water sampled from one well was over four times the EPA’s current maximum contamination level for safe drinking water.”…