3M Reaches Agreement With Belgium on Zwijndrecht Remediation
06 Julho 2022 - 8:48AM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
3M Co. on Wednesday said it has struck a deal with the Belgian
government to resolve continuing disagreements on the remediation
of contamination from toxic chemicals at and near the manufacturing
conglomerate's plant in Zwijndrecht.
The St. Paul, Minn., company said it has pledged to invest a
total of more than 571 million euros ($582 million), including
amounts it had already committed, in the efforts to address legacy
manufacturing and disposal of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
substances, or PFAS, and to benefit area residents.
PFAS are commonly called "forever chemicals" because they take
so long to break down. The toxic family of chemicals has made its
way into drinking water and food supplies around the world through
a range of sources, including industrial operations, food packaging
and firefighting foam.
3M last year idled some production at the Zwijndrecht plant near
Antwerp after the Flemish environmental agency issued a safety
measure barring emissions of the toxic chemicals from the facility.
The company had appealed the decision, but Belgian authorities in
March rejected the appeal and finalized stricter PFAS pollution
standards, keeping the plant partially idled.
Under the new agreement, 3M said it will commit EUR250 million
for priority remedial actions identified by the government for the
benefit of Zwijndrecht's residents and pay EUR100 million to be
used in the government's discretion in connection with any PFAS
released from the plant.
3M said it expects to record a pretax charge of about $360
million in the second quarter related to the Zwijndrecht
actions.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 06, 2022 07:33 ET (11:33 GMT)
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