$27 Million PFAS Water Contamination Settlement Reached By DuPont in New York Lawsuit

Agreement brings total settlement amount to $92 million for residents of the New York town exposed to PFAS contaminated drinking water.

The chemical manufacturer DuPont has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve a class action lawsuit filed by residents of upstate New York, who say the company was one of many who contaminated their drinking water with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), more commonly known as “forever chemicals.”

PFAS are a group of more than 9,000 manmade chemical compounds, which have been widely used in plastics and packaging due to their resistance to grease, oil and water, as well as in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) used to fight petroleum fires.

Exposure to PFAS and AFFF have been linked to numerous health issues, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, impacts on the body’s hormone system and other harmful effects. As a result, individuals throughout the U.S. are currently pursuing PFAS water contamination lawsuits against the chemicals’ manufacturers, including 3M, DuPont, Chemguard, Inc., Tyco Fire Products and others.

In addition, thousands of military personnel and firefighters nationwide are also pursuing AFFF lawsuits, alleging that working closely with the PFAS-laden firefighting foam led to the development of certain cancers and other adverse health conditions.

The original PFAS water contamination class action lawsuit was filed nine years ago, targeting several chemical manufacturers who plaintiffs say were responsible for contaminating upstate New York drinking water sources. The complaint stemmed from a facility in Hoosick Falls, New York, which was owned by a series of chemical manufacturers from the late 1960s until 2003.

Plaintiffs say runoff and discharges from the plant led to widespread groundwater contamination by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a PFAS compound frequently linked to cancer risks.

In 2021, plaintiffs and several defending companies, except for E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., reached a $65 million settlement, leaving DuPont as the only defendant left in the litigation.

However, just days before the case was scheduled to go to trial, U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, in the Northern District of New York, issued a text-only order announcing that a tentative settlement had been reached between the parties.

“Counsel advised the Court on July 9, 2025 that a final agreement to settle has been executed by all parties. The Court will await the filing of a motion for final approval.”

-Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, Text Only Order, July 9, 2025

DuPont’s addition brings the overall PFAS settlement payouts to a total of $92 million.

PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuits

Even after this agreement, there are still more than 10,000 lawsuits involving PFAS water contamination and exposure filed by firefighters, residents and communities impacted by the chemicals in their drinking water systems. All such claims filed in federal courts nationwide have been centralized into a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel in the District of South Carolina for pretrial proceedings.

As part of coordinated pretrial proceedings, a group of bellwether cases are being prepared for trial, to evaluate how juries may respond to the evidence. The first trial is scheduled to begin in October 2025 and will focus on claims involving individuals who developed cancer after drinking PFAS-contaminated water near military bases and firefighting training facilities.

While the outcomes of these early trials won’t be binding on other cases, they are expected to influence future settlement negotiations and provide insight into potential AFFF lawsuit payout values.