Why is 3M not getting rid of it's existing flurochemical business. It continues to pay millions of dollars in fines, e.g. state of MN in 2018 and recently in Belgium and the state of AL in 2022 for issues related to PFAS. It will continue to hemorrhage 3M's profit and legal troubles seem to increasing with every year passing. Not to mention the cost of litigation which is super expensive.
Why not get rid of this business in the first place ? Is it too late and too toxic to be even viable?
Should have been implemented decades ago. Good decision, only 10 to 12 years late though! The damage has already been done.
Well said.
3M announces exit from PFAS manufacturing
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/20/business/3m-forever-chemicals-elimination/index.html
Was just announced that 3M is exiting all PFAS manufacturing. And with that, more people will lose their jobs.
More stuff getting exposed !
https://minnesotareformer.com/2022/12/15/toxic-3m-knew-its-chemicals-were-harmful-decades-ago-but-didnt-tell-the-public-government/
After Belgium it is Netherlands next. It's going viral bro!
3M Faces Dutch Claim Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ Pollution
Dec 13, 2022
Bloomberg) -- The Netherlands’s government is exploring its legal options against chemical giant 3M over pollution in the Dutch part of the Scheldt river.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/3m-faces-dutch-claim-over-forever-chemicals-pollution/ar-AA15e1UB
If 3M stops making these fluorochemicals, other companies will fill the void with much worse chemicals. Think about that!
To the person who posted this:
You have zero ethics left in you. Defending your position with an asinine comments. If other companies want to pollute the world with dangerous chemicals, let them do it. Why should we get entangled in that business? Have you not learnt any lesson from the ongoing calamity with PFAS. Is this not enough for you???
Short chain molecules that are being used as alternatives also have lot of concerns.
Try to take your head out of your ar-e and think about the science, and follow numerous studies and expert opinions, not just your own biased thinking. Every flourochemical, even short chain molecules, that 3M makes today is a potential liability in future. EU countries will ban it soon, probably followed by California and then rest of US.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i28/Shrinking-Case-Fluorochemicals.html
"In it, the scientists outline their concerns about the potential long-term environmental impacts of transitioning to the short-chain alternatives, namely that one set of environmentally persistent compounds will be replacing another."
3M has not made/sell PFOA type fluorochemicals for more than 2 decades!!!! The current fluorochemical/fluoropolymer products all use technologies that have much, much better EHS profile (not saying you can drink/eat it, but the new 3M fluorochemicals are not bioaccumulative). If 3M stops making these fluorochemicals, other companies will fill the void with much worse chemicals. Think about that!
There is simply no comparison between PFAS and CAE litigation issues.
Ear plug issue, though large, is still finite number of claimants and is limited only to ear damage.
PFAS on the other hand is seemingly unlimited in number of claimants (counties, cities, states, countries etc.) and the scope of damage is also unlimited ( just Google the side effects of PFAS in the human body). It is simply mind boggling.
Is PFAS a larger issue than CAE? In terms of magnitude of payout...anyone could guess?
An article worth reading and understanding without any intrinsic bias. Also had many references to reputed peer reviewed journal papers.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Toxicity and Human Health Review: Current State of Knowledge and Strategies for Informing Future Research
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2021 Mar; 40(3): 606–630.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7906952/#__ffn_sectitle
“Not illegal yet”.
https://aboutblaw.com/4fG
"PFAS is not illegal yet".
It is exactly this kind of mo--nic thinking that has got this company in this huge cesspool of liability and litigation.
The public narrative on PFAS has changed irreversibly and will never be favorable for 3M. Like ever!
For every $ of fluorochemical that 3M sells today, there is potentially multiple $$ of liabilities waiting for the future.
Stop this business now !
PFAS is not illegal yet.
Exciting Roman, Consigliere Patolawala, and Flimflam Rhodes are the scalawags who are allowing this despicable potable water contamination to continue virtually unabated. Only men of no conscience would permit these heinous acts in the United States and around the world.
3M fines / settlements paid / to be paid so far (a few examples provided below) :
2018 : Minnesota : $ 850 million
2022 - near future : Belgium : $ 550 million
2022 - near future : Alabama : $ 99 million
Many other cities, states and countries lining up to file more litigations w.r.t PFAS.
Legal cost to 3M for litigations : probably few millions of $ per month.
Whatever quarterly profit the company makes, a lions share will be eaten up because of causes mentioned above moving forward.
This is the current situation folks !
Poisoning ☠️ the environment (drinking water) is a clear and present danger to our collective survival. Moreover, it is a criminal enterprise that is unsustainable and when caught, unprofitable except for lawyers and deniers of the environmental impact.
This scourge must be halted.
Why? Brew yourself a cup of tea, get comfortable in your recliner and begin reading at p.32 of 3M’s most recent quarterly report:
https://s24.q4cdn.com/834031268/files/doc_downloads/2022/10/10Q/Final-Q3-2022-10-Q.pdf
By the time you finish page 33, you should be envisioning of an army of highly paid, well-dressed lawyers across the globe shoveling heaping piles of 3M cash into a blast furnace. Surrounding these lawyers are entire groups of 3Mers, whose time is solely dedicated to managing the enterprise-level crisis, as opposed to productive business activities such as developing, manufacturing and selling products.
As you contemplate such a juicy acquisition target, with its seemingly unbounded liabilities (“the Company is not able to estimate a possible loss or range of possible loss at this time”), I recommend rounding out the pre-acquisition diligence by searching for any new updates in the (mere) intervening month since the 10-Q release. You’ll find things like this:
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-11/Final.signed.AOC%20SDWA%201431.3M%20Cordova%20IL.Nov_.%2003%202022_1.pdf
Or this:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-sues-3m-and-dupont-over-pfas-chemicals-11668113297
After the CERCLA designations for PFOA and PFOS come to pass, folks will reminisce about these times being good ones.
If you wouldn’t be willing to put in an offer on 3M Flurochemicals, a more sophisticated investor certainly won’t either. Highly unlikely that 3M will be able to unload this line of business.
Is Dyneon considered another failed acquisition into 3M Flurochemical portfolio?
2023 is going to be an interesting year for PFAS when EPA is expected to designate PFAS as a hazardous chemical.
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/10/biden-epa-unveils-pfas-roadmap-plans-key-actions-by-2023.html
" The agency is also planning to propose a hazardous substance designation for those two compounds under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), also called the Superfund law, by next spring and finalize that in fall 2023"
3M is already bleeding badly because of PFAS. Chances are this alone will take down this once mighty enterprise.