March 27, 2007: Is suit '3M-bashing' or result of company's hiding facts?

3M's conduct and liability for east metro groundwater pollution were debated before judge, packed courtroom.

By Tom Meersman, Star Tribune

Last update: April 5, 2007 - 10:37 AM

An attorney representing the 3M Co. said on Tuesday that the company has been falsely accused of withholding information and covering up data about the toxicity of chemicals that have contaminated groundwater in the east metro area.

"This is all about 3M-bashing," Ashley Cooper said in a packed Washington County courtroom. "Allegations of hiding the truth weigh heavily on the people who are 3M."

Cooper presented 3M's case before Washington County District Judge Mary Hannon, who heard arguments about whether a suit filed against the company in 2004 should be certified as a class-action case.

Granting the request would expand those represented in the civil action from approximately 1,000 residents to more than 57,000, according to plaintiffs' attorneys. The class would include people who use private wells in Lake Elmo or who drink city water in Oakdale, Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park, they said.

Cooper said the trace amounts of chemicals formerly manufactured by 3M and detected in groundwater near former dumps have not harmed anyone. The compounds, known as perfluorochemicals (PFCs), have been found in concentrations far below those that cause even the slightest problems in animal tests, he said.

Rather than covering up any data, Cooper said, 3M has shared hundreds of its own studies about PFCs with federal and state officials.

Lawyer calls product 'toxic'

Attorney Martha Wivell, representing the residents, told a different story. At the same time 3M was dumping PFC wastes at its Cottage Grove plant and at nearby landfills, she said, the company knew its products were harmful and even sold some of them to be formulated into pesticides.

"3M created a product that it knew by the mid-1970s was toxic, bioaccumulative and persistent in the environment, and they didn't tell anyone about it," Wivell said.

Because some PFCs accumulate in human blood, she said, even trace amounts in drinking water can become hazardous. "Once you have them inside you, they're not going away," Wivell said.

The compounds, which 3M stopped manufacturing in 2002, were used for Scotchgard, Teflon and dozens of other products.

Wivell said the case against 3M is very similar to a suit in West Virginia, in which one of the 3M chemicals sold to DuPont contaminated groundwater in six communities. That case was settled out of court in 2005, and DuPont agreed to pay for cleanup programs, blood tests and possibly medical monitoring of individuals that could cost more than $300 million.

Link to illness alleged

The court appearances attracted an overflow crowd, including John Leibel, a college student from Oakdale who recently finished being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Leibel said he thinks 3M chemicals in drinking water had something to do with his illness. "There's far too many cancer cases in young people," he said. "There has to be some kind of explanation."

Don Klatke, a long-time Lake Elmo resident who moved away about a year ago, said he's following the case because he and many of his friends have drunk the water for decades. "We didn't know what kind of a time bomb was out here," he said.

Arguments to conclude today

Many of the arguments Tuesday focused on whether the Minnesota suit meets legal standards to be certified as a class action and tried as a single case rather than as many separate, individual cases.

Wivell said that a class action makes sense and is the only feasible and fair way for the court to handle the water problems and resulting claims.

Cooper said it is virtually impossible to define the class of residents because all have different circumstances and medical histories.

The arguments before Judge Hannon are expected to conclude today.

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388 • meersman@startribune.com