Wolverine Worldwide suing 3M over PFAS contamination

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- Wolverine Worldwide has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging 3M should be held accountable for PFAS contamination in West Michigan.

The lawsuit is the latest case of finger-pointing as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality continues to assess groundwater levels of the likely carcinogen statewide.

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Both companies are defendants in lawsuits filed by residents impacted by the contamination, but Wolverine alleges 3M neglected to tell Wolverine about environmental risks that 3M's product, Scotchgard, possessed.

>>PDF: Wolverine lawsuit against 3M

In its court documents filed early Wednesday, Wolverine cites a 2017 court filing by the state of Minnesota against 3M.

"It has come to light that 3M hid relevant test data and information about the PFAS compounds in its Scotchgard product for decades," the lawsuit said, referring to the court filing.

The Minnesota case resulted in a $850 million settlement from 3M after the state discovered the company purposely buried information on the risks of PFAS.

"Scotchgard posed environmental risks that 3M was hiding and ignoring. 3M withheld this information from Wolverine, however, instead assuring it that there were no environmental risks from the Scotchgard product that 3M had sold to Wolverine, and that Wolverine had used, for over 40 years," Wolverine's lawsuit alleges.

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