Chemical manufacturing large 3M pays up ten billion {dollars} to assist cities and cities take a look at for and clear up poisonous PFAS chemical substances in public water provides.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The chemical manufacturing large 3M pays as much as $10 billion to assist cities and cities take a look at for and clear up poisonous so-called without end chemical substances in public water provides. These are the chemical substances generally known as PFAS. A whole bunch of claimants sued 3M for its function in contaminating ingesting water with firefighting foam that comprises these chemical substances. WBUR environmental correspondent Barbara Moran joins us from Massachusetts. Hello there.
BARBARA MORAN, BYLINE: Hello, Juana.
SUMMERS: To begin with, Barbara, what are PFAS, and the way huge of a deal are they?
MORAN: Yeah, so they seem to be a actually huge deal, to begin with. They usually’re this big class of chemical substances that had been invented within the Nineteen Thirties, they usually had all these actually wonderful qualities. Like, they had been actually heatproof and waterproof, so that they’re utilized in all of those merchandise – proper? – like, cookware, like Teflon and stain-proof clothes. And sadly, it seems that they are actually poisonous, even in small quantities in ingesting water. One particular person I’ve spoken to loads about that is Wendy Heiger-Bernays, and she or he’s a toxicologist at Boston College who research PFAS in ingesting water.
WENDY HEIGER-BERNAYS: It’s actually poisonous. And there are definitely communities in Massachusetts – proper? – who’ve been poisoned. You may not often hear me say that, however they’ve been.
MORAN: So Heiger-Bernays says that these chemical substances have been linked to liver illness, most cancers and a whole lot of different actually severe well being issues.
SUMMERS: OK. And the way do these chemical substances find yourself in ingesting water?
MORAN: All types of the way, actually. So when you have stain-proof clothes and also you wash it within the washer, it may exit into the storm water. It may be in merchandise in landfills and leech into the groundwater that approach. However one of many greatest identified contaminants is firefighting foam, which comprises PFAS. And so you possibly can think about this being sprayed throughout, you understand, army bases and firefighting academies, and it will get into the groundwater and into the ingesting water that approach. And that is the place we have been seeing the best ranges of contamination – by locations like this.
SUMMERS: And if I am understanding appropriately, 3M was sued as a result of they made this firefighting foam.
MORAN: That is proper. They made it for many years. And this settlement is resolving about 500 instances that had been pending – cities, cities, water districts. They usually all mentioned that 3M’s firefighting foam contaminated their ingesting water. Now, it is essential to know that 3M hasn’t admitted any legal responsibility within the settlement, however they’ve agreed to pay $10 billion for testing and cleanup of ingesting water.
SUMMERS: I imply, $10 billion – that feels like some huge cash. How are individuals reacting to this settlement?
MORAN: Yeah, it positive does sound like some huge cash. Nicely, individuals assume it is good to see 3M paying up, however additionally they say it is nowhere close to sufficient cash to pay for all of the cleanup. It is like, you understand, a drop within the bucket, actually. So – and that is as a result of the cleanup is de facto costly, so it may value a small city, like, 20, $30 million to put in filters to scrub up their ingesting water, plus, you understand, ongoing upkeep for years and years. Jennifer Pederson is the manager director of the Massachusetts Water Works Affiliation, and she or he sums this up fairly properly.
JENNIFER PEDERSON: Trying on the scope of the issue throughout the nation, 10 billion is not actually going to be ample sufficient to cowl what our public water methods are dealing with. I imply, I believe we’re taking a look at billions in Massachusetts alone.
MORAN: And Pederson says that regardless of this big settlement, a whole lot of the associated fee remains to be going to fall on water clients.
SUMMERS: Barbara, thanks.
MORAN: Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: That is Barbara Moran with WBUR.
Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content might not be in its closing type and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability could range. The authoritative document of NPR’s programming is the audio document.
