A federal lawsuit over chemical contamination in the Tennessee River in and around Decatur, Ala., is set to go to trial, but not until 2019.
The lawsuit, filed last year by environmental group Tennessee Riverkeeper, alleges synthetic chemicals manufactured by 3M at its plant in Decatur have been entering the Tennessee River for decades, and that these chemicals pose a threat to human health and the environment.
"We don’t mind 3M making profitable products – but, we cannot tolerate the defendants putting profit ahead of the health of people, the environment and the River," said David Whiteside, Tennessee Riverkeeper’s Founder and Executive Director.
"After nearly five decades of 3M’s pollution of the Tennessee River, where no one has held the defendants accountable, we felt we needed to act to protect this precious resource and all the wildlife and restore justice to the hundreds of thousands of people who rely upon her waters everyday," he said.
The chemicals are extremely slow to break down and can build up in certain tissues in the body over time.
3M has argued that the substances are not harmful at levels typically found in the environment, and that the company is in compliance with regulations from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
"3M has always operated in compliance with its legal and regulatory obligations," said William A.
Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel for 3M.
3M will defend its record of environmental stewardship, and looks forward to bringing the facts of this case into public view."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a health advisory in 2016 that the substances could be harmful to humans at lower concentrations than previously believed, and cited evidence linking the chemicals to birth defects, developmental issues, and certain cancers as well as changes to the liver, immune system and thyroid issues.