Lawsuit: 3M contamination led to more cancer, infertility

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota’s attorney general alleges that chemicals dumped by 3M Co. in the Twin Cities metro led to an increase in cancer, infertility and babies with low birth weights.

Attorney General Lori Swanson says in a court filing that the contamination caused $5 billion in health and environmental damage for which 3M should be liable.

3M says the lawsuit is a “misguided attempt” to force the company to pay for a problem that does not exist.

The filing Friday alleges that 3M knew the groundwater was contaminated years before it stopped making perflourinated chemicals, known as PFCs, and that it withheld critical information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2010. After a series of procedural delays, the case is scheduled for trial early next year.