Wolverine, 3M Toxic Chemicals in Water Supply Michigan Class Action

This class action is about the poisoning of drinking water due to the disposal of tannery and other waste, but it resembles recent cases about the effects of firefighting foams. Both substances have connections to the 3M Company; in this case, two other defendants are Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. and its agent Waste Management, Inc. of Michigan.

Two classes have been defined for this action.

• The Medical Monitoring Class is individuals who consumed water that Wolverine, Waste Management, and 3M contaminated with PFCs and other toxic chemicals.
• The Property Damage Class is individuals who own property in or near areas that Wolverine, Waste Management, and 3M contaminated with PFCs and other toxic chemicals.

Wolverine ran a tannery in Rockford for over a hundred years. It closed the tannery only in 2009. It also had a factory, waste-water treatment facility, and pumping plant. Toxic waste products were put into a pit under the maintenance building. The complaint says, “At times, so much toxic waste was dumped into the pit under the building that it overflowed.” 

From 1950s until around 2002, Wolverine used 3M’s Scotchguard product in making some of its leather footwear. Scotchguard contained perfluorocarbons and polyfluorocarbons (PFCs), including PFAs, which in turn include PFOS and PFOA.

Waste Management discharged Wolverine’s sludge and debris at various locations in western and central Michigan, particularly Kent County, which is the location spotlighted in this case. 

Unfortunately, PFCs do not degrade in soil or water but are carried through it to other locations. According to the complaint, 3M has known this since at least 1970.

Also, PFCs are bio-accumulative. That is, they are excreted less quickly than they are consumed and so accumulate in the body. 

The complaint gives the example of a three-year-old child who lives about 800 yards south of one of the dumping areas. His family gets its water from a private well. In September 2017, its water was measured as having PFAS levels of about 5,000 parts per trillion (ppt), which is 70 times the Michigan and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits. However, the child’s blood had levels of 484,000 ppt, “dangerously close” to the dose that killed rhesus monkeys in an experiment on toxicity.

The experiments on rhesus monkeys had been done by 3M in 1978. Every one of the monkeys died. The company also had studies done on fish. In 1983, the complaint says, PFC levels in some 3M workers’ blood were found to be elevated. The complaint alleges that 3M hid its studies from the public. 

The complaint alleges conspiracy, fraudulent concealment, negligence, and failure to warn, among other things.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Environmental
Tags: Environmental, Environmental Contamination, Environmental Pollution