Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf is pleased to congratulate New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, and the entire State of New Jersey team on securing a landmark settlement with DuPont and related companies valued at more than $2 billion, the largest environmental recovery for a single state – and one of the largest legal recoveries of any kind – in U.S. history.
The recently announced settlement will fund the cleanup of widespread PFAS contamination at four former DuPont industrial sites across New Jersey.
The agreement, which includes the clean-up in Pompton Lakes, comes after years of litigation over the toxic legacy of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These are a group of chemicals, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation's air, water and soil.
The deal calls for the companies to pay $875 million over 25 years to deal with contaminants and create a remediation fund of up $1.2 billion. The companies will split the costs under the deal, which must still be approved by the courts. The companies will also set up a $475 million reserve fund managed by a third party, which could be used if any of the companies go bankrupt or fail to complete remediation work required under the agreement.
Cohn Lifland is proud to have been one of the firms representing the State of New Jersey on this and other environmental litigations. Cohn Lifland’s litigation efforts were led by Leonard Z. Kaufmann, with assistance from Joseph A. Maurice and Christina Stripp.
Clean water should be a priority in every community. Thank you, New Jersey, for making it so.