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Clawson votes to join nationwide PFAS settlements, authorizes legal-services agreement
Summary
Council authorized the city to participate in national AFFF/PFAS settlements (3M, DuPont and others) and approved a contingency-fee legal-services agreement; potential recovery is pro rata across public water systems and will be allocated based on flow/usage.
The council voted June 16 to join a national settlement process resolving claims related to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and PFAS contamination in drinking water. City attorney Mr. Riker summarized the proposed national settlements: 3M has agreed to make up to roughly $12.5 billion available and DuPont roughly $1.185 billion together with related settlements. The action authorizes a limited-scope legal-service agreement to pursue recovery for public water systems.
City attorney's explanation and fees: Mr. Riker explained that firms handling the litigation operate on contingency and that the standard arrangement here is a contingency fee (described in the meeting as approximately one-third of recovery) plus litigation costs; those fees and costs would be deducted from any settlement proceeds before the remainder is distributed to public water systems. He said distribution among municipalities is typically pro rata based on usage/flow and agreed to obtain Clawson's flow-share estimate for council information.
Why it matters: the nationwide settlements are intended to make funds available to public water systems to address PFAS contamination, remediation, monitoring and related public-health costs. Council approved the authorization by roll-call vote and asked staff to report back with Clawson's likely allocation under the settlement formula.
Next steps: staff will execute the legal-service agreement and follow up with an estimate of the city's likely recovery based on its water-flow share and will report details when available. The council did not vote on any particular distribution formula at this meeting.
