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Marathon County reviews joining national PFAS lawsuit as officials weigh tests, costs and protections
Summary
County attorneys told the Marathon County Board that the nationwide PFAS MDL produced a major water-provider settlement and that soil/airport/landfill claims remain possible; counsel urged targeted testing and explained contingency-fee litigation and how a county could join or preserve claims.
Marathon County leaders on Thursday heard from outside counsel about the opportunity to join multi-district litigation over PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination and what that would mean for local landfills, the county airport and wastewater operations.
The county’s administrator introduced Atollis Law and national plaintiffs’ counsel to brief the board on the litigation’s history and options. Carrie McDougall, part of the national plaintiffs’ team, said the federal MDL consolidated thousands of PFAS cases and produced a large water-provider settlement: ‘‘3M paid the bulk of it and it was roughly . . . 12 to 13 billion,’’ she said, adding DuPont’s contribution was in the low‑single-digit billions.
Why it matters: The water-provider settlement resolved claims tied to drinking water but, according to counsel, specifically left open other categories of claims — including airport firefighting-foam exposures, soils, landfill and wastewater/biosolids —…
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