Democrat Lisa McCormick denounces $450 million slap on the wrist

In a move that reeks of corporate leniency, chemical giant 3M has agreed to pay up to $450 million to resolve lawsuits over PFAS contamination in New Jersey—a sum that progressive anti-establishment firebrand Lisa McCormick calls "a drop in the bucket compared to the poison they’ve unleashed."

"Letting polluters write environmental policy is like letting arsonists run the fire department," McCormick declared. "The Trump administration’s rollbacks weren’t deregulation—they were a death warrant for our air, water, and future. But this settlement? It’s a retreat from justice, a surrender to corporate power."

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin hailed the deal as a "landmark" victory, but the numbers tell a different story: $450 million—spread over 25 years, with $285 million paid upfront—is a pittance compared to the multi-billion-dollar cleanup New Jersey faces.

"This adds up to less than $50 per victim," McCormick said. "3M made $5 billion in profits last year alone. This isn’t accountability—it’s a bargain-bin buyout."

For decades, 3M and other chemical titans like DuPont manufactured PFAS—"forever chemicals" that don’t break down, accumulating in water, soil, and human blood. Linked to cancer, infertility, liver damage, and birth defects, these toxins have infiltrated nearly every American’s body. Yet when faced with lawsuits, 3M’s response has been evasion, denial, and now—a wrist-slap settlement.

"Twenty-one companies share responsibility for this contamination," McCormick said. "If each pays a similar amount, it still won’t cover the damage. This is corporate crime disguised as resolution."

While 3M avoids a trial—scheduled for May 19, 2025—New Jersey’s water systems remain laced with poison. The Passaic Valley Water Commission alone is spending $70 million to filter PFAS. Military bases like Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst are toxic hotspots, with cleanup costs stretching into the hundreds of millions.

The cold calculus of corporate crime has never been clearer.

3M—which recorded $5 billion in profits last year—will pay less than 10% of its annual earnings to resolve claims over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals so persistent they've been found in the blood of 99% of Americans.

These forever chemicals, linked to cancer, liver damage, and birth defects, have contaminated drinking water systems across New Jersey, forcing communities to spend millions on filtration while 3M counts its billions.

"What makes this settlement particularly galling is its timing. The deal was announced just days before 3M was set to face trial alongside DuPont and Chemours in what would have been the first state-level PFAS case to reach a jury," McCormick said. "Instead of facing public scrutiny, 3M gets to quietly write a check—one that won't even cover a fraction of the damage."

"The Passaic Valley Water Commission alone is spending $70 million to filter these toxins. Military bases like Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst remain contaminated. And private wells across the state may never be cleaned up," McCormick said.

"Americans see this two-tiered justice system clearly," McCormick said. "If you’re a corporation, you pay a fine and walk away. If you’re a working family, you drink the poison and pay the medical bills."

McCormick, a longtime critic of Wall Street greed and "too big to fail" bailouts, argues that real accountability would mean judicial dissolution—the corporate death penalty—for repeat polluters.

"Instead of dismantling these criminal enterprises, our government stuffs their pockets with contracts," she said, noting 3M’s $126 million COVID mask deal and lucrative defense contracts. "They profit from poisoning us, then profit from cleaning it up. It’s a racket."

New Jersey has been a national leader in PFAS regulation, setting strict drinking water limits and suing polluters, but McCormick warns: "Settlements like this let corporations off the hook while taxpayers foot the bill."

"The EPA, under Trump’s appointees, became the ‘Environmental Pollution Agency,’" she said. "Now, we’re seeing the state surrender to corporate power. This isn’t justice. It’s a betrayal."

"This settlement reveals the brutal two-tiered justice system Americans know too well," McCormick said. "When corporations poison entire communities, they negotiate cozy settlements. When ordinary people break rules, they go to jail."

"3M—which continues to win lucrative government contracts even as it pays for its crimes—will treat this settlement as a cost of doing business," McCormick said. "Meanwhile, New Jersey families will pay with their health, their water bills, and their children's futures."

There was another path. McCormick has long argued for the corporate death penalty—judicial dissolution for repeat offenders who treat human lives as disposable.

"Instead of a corporate death penalty, we get a deal that lets 3M keep operating, keep profiting, and keep contaminating," McCormick said. "The company has even admitted it won't fully phase out PFAS production until 2025—twenty-five years after it first knew the dangers."

"As the ink dries on this shameful settlement, one truth becomes undeniable: America has become a country where corporations can poison with impunity, where profits outweigh lives, and where justice for polluters means writing a check they can easily afford," McCormick said. "Until that changes, no amount of money will ever be enough to clean up what they've done to New Jersey—and to the planet."

"As 3M counts its profits and New Jersey counts its dead, one question remains: When will America stop letting polluters pay their way out of murder?" asked McCormick. "The $450 million answer? Not nearly enough."