City of Hastings sues 3M over PFOA water contamination

The City of Hastings has filed a lawsuit against 3M in Dakota County District Court, alleging that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination from the company’s Cottage Grove facility has affected five municipal drinking water wells.

The lawsuit claims that 3M released these ‘forever chemicals’ through smokestack emissions, which were then carried by wind into Hastings and leached into the groundwater. The city states it must now invest millions of dollars to build new treatment plants to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mandatory maximum containment level of 4 parts per trillion for PFOA.

Hastings officials noted that the city opted out of a larger national settlement involving 3M to pursue its own litigation to cover the costs of water treatment, monitoring, and testing. In response, a 3M spokesperson called the litigation ‘unfortunate,’ noting the company’s commitment to exit PFAS manufacturing globally by the end of 2025 and its previous multi-billion dollar commitments to assist public water suppliers across the United States.