Attorney General John M. Formella announces that the First Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the 3M Company’s attempt to remove New Hampshire’s PFAS case to federal court, affirming a March 29, 2023 order by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire (McCafferty, C.J.) remanding the case back to state court.
“This victory will allow us to move forward with our case and continue to pursue damages for PFAS contamination of our state’s water, soil, and other natural resources,” said Attorney General Formella. “Companies like 3M made billions of dollars from the manufacturing of PFAS chemicals without disclosing to the public the significant threats to human health and the environment, and we intend to hold them accountable for the harm they have caused.”
This is the latest development in the State’s ongoing effort on behalf of the citizens of the State to hold 3M and other manufacturers of PFAS to account for widespread PFAS contamination in New Hampshire.
While 3M has had success with similar appeals in other states’ PFAS cases, New Hampshire successfully argued that 3M’s attempt to remove the case to federal court was untimely, coming at least 2 years too late under applicable law.
The State has a separate PFAS lawsuit focused on aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that is part of a multi-district litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
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