Fernley authorizes outside counsel to pursue PFAS settlement claims after tests show exceedances

Sung Kim, the city's utility director, told the council Fernley tested PFAS levels and found two locations above the EPA's maximum contaminant level for certain PFAS compounds. He said that makes the city eligible to file claims under national settlements negotiated with manufacturers and recommended the city retain outside counsel to pursue those claims.

Ken Sandstone of SL Environmental Law Group described the settlements and the claims process. Sandstone said the 3M settlement and related programs establish a mechanism that allocates money to impacted public water systems based on the size of each source and PFAS concentrations. He told council his firm handles these cases on contingency and estimated that recoveries for communities of this size commonly reach low seven figures depending on the wells and concentrations involved.

Council members asked about costs and scope; Sandstone said the firm would work on a contingency (he later noted 25% as a typical contingency figure mentioned in discussion). Council voted 5-0 to authorize staff to enter into an agreement with SL Environmental Law Group to file settlement claims with 3M and DuPont.

What the action covers: The litigation would be pursued on behalf of the city for impacts to the public water system; the settlements and any recoveries would be for public-system remediation and planning, not private well claims. Sandstone said private-well owners could make separate claims and his team could connect them to counsel who handle private-well matters.

Next steps: Staff will execute the representation agreement and begin collecting detailed source-by-source data required by the settlement claims process.