3M agrees to a $7.35 billion deal to settle most foam injury claims against it in Charleston’s federal court

The firefighting foam injury claims piled up against 3M in Charleston’s federal court may be about to thin out.

3M Co. said Nov. 3 that it has agreed to pay $7.35 billion over nine years to settle personal injury claims over PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, that are the focus of the national firefighting foam litigation in U.S. District Court in South Carolina. The company put the deal’s present value at $5.8 billion.

The agreement addresses about 99% of current personal injury claims against 3M inside and outside that litigation, involving about 115,000 to 120,000 plaintiffs who are eligible to take part, the company said. 3M does not admit liability or wrongdoing.

“This settlement is a significant milestone for 3M and substantially reduces litigation uncertainty,” 3M Chairman and CEO William Brown said in the company’s announcement.

What the deal covers

The settlement is limited to six conditions: kidney cancer, testicular cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease, according to the master settlement agreement 3M filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The plaintiffs’ leaders have told the court those are the only illnesses for which current science supports a link to PFAS exposure, the agreement says.

To take part, a claimant must enroll and give 3M a full release of PFAS-related injury claims. The actual amount, payment terms and dates depend on whether enough claimants sign up to meet participation thresholds, 3M said in the filing.

3M said it will pay $50 million this year and nothing in 2027. Six installments of $1.045 billion follow, the first no earlier than January 2028 and the last no earlier than July 2033, according to the payment schedule. The rest of the $7.35 billion is tied to participation targets, bonus payments and a $680 million reserve fund for remaining and future claims.

3M will take a pre-tax charge of $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter.

Why Charleston

In December 2018, a panel of federal judges sent firefighting foam cases from across the country to the District of South Carolina to be managed together, according to 3M’s annual report. The cases were assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, according to the court. The foam, known as AFFF, is used to put out fuel fires, and most contamination claims involve military bases or airports, according to a filing by Chemours, another defendant.

The litigation involves more than 15,000 cases, according to the settlement agreement, and many include multiple plaintiffs, 3M has said.

Gergel has scheduled a Nov. 20 status hearing on the 3M proposal and issued instructions for plaintiffs who want to claim settlement money or opt out, The Post and Courier reported.

In connection with the settlement, the court also issued two case management orders on identifying claimants and on what unsettled and future claimants against 3M must provide, Chemours said in its quarterly report filed Nov. 5, which refers to 3M as another defendant that announced a settlement Nov. 3. Plaintiffs who keep litigating against 3M must turn over medical records, proof of exposure and expert reports by set deadlines or face dismissal, the report says.

The court had already been trimming the docket. It dismissed about 13,500 plaintiffs in September whose complaints had deficiencies they didn’t fix, according to the Chemours report. In August 2025, Gergel canceled the first personal injury trial, which had been set for Oct. 20, 2025, in an order addressing concerns about unfiled personal injury claims, the report says.

A Mount Pleasant firm’s role

Motley Rice, the Mount Pleasant plaintiffs’ firm, holds leadership posts in the litigation. Co-founder Joe Rice served as a co-lead counsel and led negotiations for the 3M settlement until his death in September, the firm said. Fred Thompson has been the court-appointed liaison counsel since the litigation began, according to the firm. Thompson is also one of four negotiating plaintiffs’ lawyers who signed the settlement agreement, the filing shows.

“This resolution carries forward the work of our late co-founder Joe Rice, who worked on this settlement until the day he passed,” said David Hoyle, a Motley Rice lawyer who served on the negotiating team, in a statement on the firm’s website.

“For the thousands of victims who have sought answers and accountability for nearly a decade, 3M’s $7.35 billion settlement is welcome news,” Thompson said in the statement.

What’s left

The deal covers only personal injury claims against 3M. Public water systems settled earlier: 3M, DuPont, BASF, Tyco and others agreed to pay them more than $13 billion, The Post and Courier reported. Claims from states, airports and property owners remain, the newspaper reported.

Chemours, DuPont and Corteva are in talks, with a mediator, over personal injury claims, and there is no guarantee those talks will produce a settlement, Chemours said in its report. Chemours says it has never made or sold AFFF.

3M said it stopped making PFAS by the end of 2025, after announcing in 2022 that it would exit. It also said it is ready to go back to court if the deal falls short.

“If certain agreed settlement terms are not fulfilled, 3M is prepared to continue to defend itself in litigation,” the company said.