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Mayor: Hawthorne has recovered multimillion dollars in PFAS settlements, easing planned water-rate increases
Summary
Mayor Lane told the council Nov. 5 that Hawthorne has received initial settlement payments from 3M and DuPont related to PFAS remediation and expects net recoveries that will reduce an anticipated 2026 water-rate increase; Shear Edling represented the borough and reduced its contingency fee to 17%.
Mayor Lane told the council on Nov. 5 that Hawthorne has begun to receive settlement payments tied to PFAS-related claims and that the borough expects multimillion-dollar recoveries that will reduce previously planned water-rate increases.
Lane said the borough engaged the environmental law firm Shear Edling to pursue claims and that lead settling defendants (3M and DuPont) have made payments. "We have now received the first payment from the most significant players in the PFAS field, 3M and DuPont," the mayor said, and added that the combined recovery was in excess of $4 million gross. He said the borough expects net recoveries of approximately $3,333,791 from 3M and about $314,992.52 from DuPont, and that Shear Edling agreed to reduce its contingent fee from an originally negotiated 25% to 17% of the borough's recovery, saving taxpayers an estimated more than $350,000.
Lane said those recoveries, combined with roughly $1 million in previously obtained debt forgiveness tied to infrastructure funding, mean Hawthorne has recouped about 75% of funds spent on system improvements to date; pending settlements with other defendants (identified in the meeting as Tao and BASF) could increase the recovery above 80% of expenditures.
The mayor credited the borough's water department personnel, municipal engineer (Basil Engineering), the administrator and outside counsel for pursuing the claims. He said the larger recoveries will allow the borough to reduce an anticipated 2026 water-rate increase and keep rates more affordable for residents.
What was not discussed in detail: the mayor's remarks described the amounts the borough expects to receive and the firm fee arrangement but did not present settlement documents or a council vote on allocation of the recovered funds. The mayor said additional settlements are pending but did not provide a specific timetable for distribution or accounting to the council during the meeting.
