3M Stock (NYSE:MMM)
On Monday, the judge presiding over the historic “forever chemicals” lawsuit involving 3M (NYSE:MMM) approved a postponement that the corporation asked to continue negotiating a settlement. As a result, 3M stock declined.
On Sunday, attorneys for 3M and the city of Stuart, Florida, filed for a postponement of the trial set to begin today. According to a joint motion that was submitted late on Sunday night, the two parties were reportedly negotiating to negotiate a settlement on Stuart’s claims that chemicals provided by 3M polluted its water supply.
The city of Stuart, Florida, which has a population of 18,000, is attempting to raise $115 million to construct and run a treatment system that would remove so-called “forever chemicals” found in its water wells and clean up polluted land.
A potential settlement would resolve claims brought up by hundreds of more communities, which argue that 3M (MMM) provided firefighting foam despite being aware that it would seep into groundwater.
The lawsuit brought by Stuart was selected as a bellwether out of the approximately 300 cases brought by other communities around the country. After the trial, it was anticipated that a decision would be made on whether or not 3M and other manufacturers of the chemicals would pay for filtering.
Last week, the companies DuPont de Nemours, Chemours, and the DuPont subsidiary Corteva (CTVA) announced a settlement to resolve claims linked to per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, often known as PFAS, for a total of $1.185 billion. Because they do not break down quickly in the environment or in the tissues of animals, they are often referred to as “forever chemicals.”
Products, including nonstick Teflon cookware, paints, cleaning supplies, firefighting foam, and food packaging, are all made using PFAS. PFAS are also utilized in the production of firefighting foam.
Featured Image: Freepik
Author Shariq Khan 
