3M, one of Minnesota’s most respected companies is facing suit filed by a group of homeowners who allege that the company injured them and lowered their property values when its chemicals seeped into their drinking water.
3M Co. admits that the chemicals did seep into the water supply of thousands of homes in Washington County but doesn’t believe that those brought harm to anyone concerned.
Six residents of Washington County filed the case and their lawyers aim to bring the case to class-action status. If that happens, hundreds of millions of dollars could be at stake as well as the health concerns of more than 60,000 people.
However, Washington County District Judge Mary Hannon could either decide that only six plaintiffs are eligible for damages or she could rule that anyone who has consumed tainted water can be eligible for a share of any monetary award in the case.
The chemicals found in the water supply of Washington County are called perfluorochemicals or PFCs. 3M has used these since the 1950s to 2002 to make products including Teflon and Scotchgard stain repellant. The chemicals were dumped at Washington County landfills until 1975 – the act that 3M lawyers consider legal.
The core of the case is a debate over whether PFCs are harmful to humans. Plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that tests on rats and monkeys show huge doses of the chemical can cause birth defects, cancer, and liver problems. They point out that even trace amounts may cause sub-cellular damage that takes years to lead to visible harm.
On the other hand, 3M has also conducted thousands of safety studies on PFCs. It concludes that while huge doses may hurt animals, small doses do not hurt people. It also stressed that a person would have to drink 500,000 glasses a day of tainted water from the city of Woodbury to achieve even the slightest harmful effect.