BASF Corp., the North American affiliate of the Germany-based company, reached a $316.5 settlement agreement on May 20 to resolve PFAS-related drinking water contamination claims against it.
Under the agreement, filed in a federal court in South Carolina, BASF Corp. will pay $312.5 million to resolve some of its forever chemicals claims. BASF’s PFAS allegation claims concern its subsidiary Ciba, which the chemical maker acquired in 2008. Prior to the acquisition, Ciba manufactured an aqueous firefighting foam containing PFAS. The chemical subsidiary sold the fluorosurfactant business to Chemguard, another defendant in the litigation, in 2003.
The remaining $4 million will go toward administrative costs, the company said in a May 21 press release. Moreover, the settlement only resolves public water system claims made on or before May 15, not including water systems owned and operated by the state or federal government or privately owned water wells.
The settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by BASF or Ciba, the company said in the press release. The chemical maker awaits court approval of its multimillion-dollar agreement and said it will continue to defend itself in other AFFF-related litigation.
BASF is one of many chemical companies involved in the ongoing multidistrict litigation first filed in 2018 regarding AFFF containing PFAS. Other companies involved in the lawsuit include 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Co., Corteva and Tyco Fire Protection and its subsidiary Chemguard, which also settled their PFAS water contamination claims in the past year.
“This settlement is another significant advance in our critical mission to ensure safer drinking water for Americans,” Scott Summy, a co-lead in the multidistrict litigation and an attorney at environmental law firm Baron and Budd, said in a statement on Thursday. “Combined with earlier settlements, this $312.5 million will provide funds for public water suppliers facing PFAS remediation and now compliance with strict new regulations.”
3M’s $10.5 billion settlement was finalized on March 29, and DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva’s $1.2 billion settlement was finalized on Feb. 8.
And last month, Tyco and Chemguard reached a $750 million settlement, which is awaiting court approval.
