PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuit

As of October 2024, our legal partners are accepting PFAS water contamination lawsuits, and we continue to provide you with the latest PFAS litigation updates.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive timeline of key developments in the PFAS litigation by thoroughly reviewing court documents and consulting lawyers involved in lawsuits over PFAS cancer and health risks.

Legal experts say PFAS litigation is just starting as more companies are being examined for using PFAS in their products.

Unfortunately, it’s expensive to litigate large cases like these and only firms with experience and resources can take them on. Oftentimes, law firms must litigate these cases with their own money and don’t get paid until a settlement is reached. When it comes to personal injury cases, make sure you know the fee agreement ahead of time before signing any contacts.

Lawyers: $10.3B PFAS Settlement ‘Pivotal Moment’ in Litigation

In June 2023, 3M agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement payable over 13 years to settle hundreds of claims the company polluted public drinking water with the chemicals. These settlement funds will be paid to public water providers to improve the testing and treatment of public water for PFAS.  

Plaintiffs’ lawyers called the 3M settlement a pivotal moment in water contamination litigation. We hope it will pave the way for settlements in individual plaintiffs’ injury cases moving forward.

Meanwhile, Chemours Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Corteva reached a similar deal with U.S. water providers for $1.19 billion.

Across the country, people, government entities and private entities are filing lawsuits against manufacturers including 3M, DuPont and Tyco Fire Products because these companies’ products polluted water supplies, causing cancer and other health problems. PFAS also led to expensive cleanup of contaminated water systems.

We analyzed Regina Brown’s 2024 lawsuit, 2:24-cv-01514 -RMG, as an example of a PFAS cancer lawsuit.

According to Brown’s complaint, the defendants failed to warn consumers that so-called PFAS “forever chemicals” had toxic properties, could persist in the environment for a long time and could contaminate water supplies.

“As a result of drinking water contaminated with Defendants’ fluorochemical products, Plaintiff developed and was diagnosed with kidney cancer, which has caused Plaintiff to undergo medical treatment including a nephrectomy surgery, and to suffer, and continue to suffer, severe personal injuries, pain, and emotional distress, including the fear of cancer recurrence,” the complaint stated.

The claims in Brown’s lawsuit echo those from other individual lawsuits we’ve researched. Plaintiffs who suffered cancer or ulcerative colitis demand compensation for physical, financial and emotional damages that they suffered because of the defendants’ negligence.

Who Is Seeking Legal Help According to PFAS Lawyers

Most people who became clients of the PFAS lawyers we’ve spoken to say they were personally exposed to forever chemicals in water and developed cancer and other serious health problems. Less than 2% of the clients sought an attorney on behalf of someone else.

Lawyers say 27% of the people who have enlisted their help are between the ages of 50 and 59. Only 3.2% hired a lawyer on behalf of minors or are under the age of 20.

The next largest age group is 20 to 29, accounting for 22.2% of claimants. Thirty to 39-year-olds and 40- to 49-year-olds each make up 17.5% of the people pursuing a lawsuit.

Were You Exposed to PFAS in Your Water?

People who live near factories or military bases that used PFAS are at the greatest risk of PFAS exposure. Aqueous Film Forming Foam, or AFFF, is one of the greatest sources of PFAS water contamination. Military bases, airports and civilian firefighters used AFFF to extinguish fuel-based fires for years.

In fact, our research revealed that the Department of Defense alerted 2,100 farms near nearly 100 military bases that their irrigation water may be contaminated with PFAS.

According to a consensus report from lawyers involved in the litigation, 77% of claimants did not receive notice from a water supplier.

Our legal partners have flagged certain states and areas with high concentrations of PFAS. We’ve provided you with the list below for reference.

Some of the hottest spots for PFAS contamination include military bases in Oklahoma, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida and California.

You may qualify for a PFAS water contamination lawsuit if you’ve developed testicular, kidney or liver cancer or ulcerative colitis after exposure to PFAS, according to our research and information we’ve received from our legal partners.

Award-winning lawyers with our partner law firms are investigating claims from people diagnosed with one of the cancers or health problems listed below.

If you drank from a contaminated water supply from 1990 to present for at least six cumulative months and received a cancer or ulcerative colitis diagnosis in 2000 or later, you may qualify for compensation.

According to lawyers litigating PFAS cases, 52% of their clients have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, while 30.2% have been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Testicular cancer comprises 12.7% of the claims, and liver cancer is the injury in 4.8% of lawsuits.

You can find a PFAS contamination lawyer by searching on the internet or through your local bar association for an environmental lawsuit lawyer who handles individual personal injury claims. We recommend speaking to an attorney as soon as possible to preserve your right to file a PFAS cancer or ulcerative colitis lawsuit. Depending on the state you live in, you may have as little as one year to file a lawsuit. One of our PFAS legal partners can tell you for sure.

Unfortunately, we’ve spoken to people who waited too long and lost their chance to file a claim because they put off speaking to a lawyer. It’s free to speak to a lawyer about your claim, and you don’t lose anything by having a free case evaluation to help you decide if you want to pursue a claim.

Because of Drugwatch’s experience researching and reporting on large mass tort and environmental litigations, we recommend looking for an attorney with extensive environmental tort experience on the national level. Defendants in this litigation are large multinational companies with deep pockets, and plaintiffs need experienced attorneys with resources to take on the corporations.

For example, Drugwatch’s legal partners at Levin Papantonio Rafferty have years of experience handling complex environmental and injury litigation. They have helped individuals and families from all over the country and acquired millions in settlements and jury verdicts for their clients.

“3M has polluted the entire world, and the blood of everyone in it, with toxic PFAS, and yet 3M still denies responsibility. We will make sure the entire story is told and hold them accountable in court,” said Wes Bowden, a Levin attorney and shareholder.