PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuit Lawsuit in California

Federal PFAS claims proceed in MDL 2873 (In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation), centralized in the District of South Carolina (Charleston) before Judge Richard M. Gergel. The MDL consolidates water utility and personal injury claims against 3M, DuPont, Chemours, Corteva, Tyco/Johnson Controls, and others alleging AFFF contamination of drinking water. California plaintiffs file directly into MDL 2873 for federal coordinated proceedings.

3M settled water utility PFAS claims nationwide for $10.3 billion (announced June 2023, finalized December 2023), with payments over ten to thirteen years. DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva separately settled water utility claims for $1.185 billion. California public water systems serving millions of residents — including San Jose Water and Fairfield-area utilities — are eligible class participants in these settlements.

California's statute of limitations for environmental toxic tort personal injury is 3 years from discovery under CCP § 338. The discovery rule tolls the period until a plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of both the injury and its PFAS connection — one of the most claimant-favorable SoLs in the nation.

Major California PFAS contamination sources include: Travis AFB (Fairfield/Solano County groundwater plumes), Edwards AFB (Mojave), NAS Miramar (San Diego), NAS Lemoore (Central Valley), former Castle AFB (Merced County), Silicon Valley semiconductor manufacturers in San Jose/Santa Clara/Sunnyvale (industrial PFAS wastewater discharge), and agricultural biosolids PFAS spreading in the Central Valley. Santa Clara County filed a PFAS lawsuit against 3M and DuPont in February 2025.