To All Rural Water Members,

I am writing to you today to provide critical information for community water systems concerned with PFAS contamination.  Last week, chemical giant 3M announced a historic $12.5 billion settlement with water utilities in the ongoing litigation originated by NRWA and our legal firm Napoli Shkolnik PLLC.  While it’s true that others have also been involved, make no mistake - NRWA has been in the lead.  Your Board of Directors approved hiring Paul Napoli and his team prior to the filing of the lawsuit now being overseen in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina. Paul serves as the court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s and is leading the national settlement negotiating team.

NRWA’s Board of Directors voted unanimously for this unprecedented step for one simple reason – they knew that small communities would not be able to afford legal representation on their own and would be forced to shoulder the financial burden of removing these toxic chemicals from their drinking water.  The goal was to provide an opportunity for our members to benefit equally from any settlement or judgement in the case by funding water treatment and testing.

The $12.5 billion class settlement still must be approved by Judge Richard M. Gergel and comes on the heels of a $1.185 billion settlement with DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva announced just a few weeks ago. Paul has been directly involved in every step of the case and these settlements.  This is a complicated and dynamic situation – here's the most important items to consider right now:

1. Systems can still join the PFAS lawsuit.  There is no cost to register, and you can always opt out of any settlement or judgement prior to accepting.

2. Any monies paid to systems will be to compensate for additional treatment and testing costs. 3M’s settlement is designed to "support PFAS remediation for public water suppliers that detect PFAS at any level or may do so in the future."

3. It is crucial for the litigation that systems test all water sources for all 29 UCMR 5 chemicals, including raw water. Paul Napoli’s team can guide you through this process.

4. Right now, this litigation is limited to drinking water systems, but we all know that wastewater systems have as much or more exposure to PFAS.  The next effort will be to seek the same relief for wastewater systems.

Some have downplayed these settlements in the media, arguing that the numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to the need.  The truth is that 3M’s proposed settlement is the largest amount ever paid by a single company to resolve claims involving contaminated drinking water.  I believe 3M should be commended for ending PFAS manufacturing and helping communities deal with the staggering costs to test and treat for PFAS.  I would also point out that the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law committed $5 billion to reduce PFAS in drinking water over 5 years.

Finally, I recommend any water systems that are concerned with PFAS contamination join the lawsuit as soon as possible using NRWA’s trusted partner Napoli Shkolnik, a firm with a successful history winning financial relief for water utilities.  There is strength in numbers, and there are many benefits that come from uniting our efforts.  That’s the power of association!  NRWA is committed to continuing to fight for small and rural communities across the Nation.  It is a privilege to represent the men and women managing America’s most essential critical infrastructure sector.

Join the Lawsuit
Joining the lawsuit is simple, just complete this form on Napoli’s website. Napoli’s trusted team members will walk you through the process and be available to answer questions you might have.

Background
NRWA's leadership had the foresight to see and understand that PFAS, including the monitoring of levels, treatment, and remediation costs, would be a major issue for rural water and wastewater utilities. Early in 2018, NRWA partnered with Napoli Shkolnik PLLC to file a lawsuit on behalf of its members against the manufacturers of PFAS, which include 3M Co., Tyco Fire Products L.P., National Foam, Inc., Buckeye Fire Protection, Chemguard, E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company ("DuPont") and The Chemours Company.

The court set a date for trial for June 5, 2023. In the time between the initial filing of the litigation and the set court date, a few key events have taken place. The first being EPA’s announcement on March 14, 2023, proposing a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) to establish Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for six PFAS in drinking water. This proposed rule would require public water systems to monitor for these PFAS, notify the public of these levels of PFAS, and reduce the levels of these PFAS in drinking water if they exceed 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS. For PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX chemicals, the EPA proposed a limit for a mix of the chemicals. As part of the public comment period, NRWA’s Regulatory Committee drafted and provided comments on behalf of the over 31,000 utility members who would be affected by this proposed rule.

The next key announcement was when Kidde Fenwal, a well-known manufacturer of fire protection and suppression systems, filed for bankruptcy.  Kidde Fenwal has been associated with the use and disposal of PFAS, resulting in significant contamination to water supplies across the U.S., meaning many water systems may have a legitimate claim against Kidde Fenwal for contributing to this situation. The timeline for resolving claims against Kidde Fenwal can vary significantly. Factors such as the complexity of the case, the number of parties involved, and the progress of the bankruptcy proceedings all influence the timeframe.  NRWA will keep its members abreast of any updates.

Two most recent and most substantial announcements are the two settlements, one from 3M for $12.5 billion that was announced on June 22, 2023, and the other from DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva for nearly $1.2 billion announced on June 2, 2023. Napoli Shkolnik Law Firm, NRWA's official partner, was a key player in both settlements, which are a major win for water systems across the U.S. 

DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva have released a Q&A document as part of their press release announcing their settlement. This document discusses what is included and excluded for the settlement, when it will be finalized, timing of funds distribution, among other items.

While 3M, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva have announced settlements, there are still manufacturers in the litigation who have yet to settle. Every public drinking water system who has been affected by PFAS deserves to be a part of the resulting settlements so they may begin the long road to resolving the associated issues.

Sincerely,

Matthew Holmes

NRWA CEO

It is never to early to apply for our scholarship program. As many of you know, each year the NYRWA distributes one-time grants to five students across New York State valued at $500.00 to help defray the cost of tuition, books, or room and board at an accredited institution of higher learning approved by the NYRWA.

This is a member benefit and we appreciate your assistance in ensuring students from your area have this opportunity to apply. In order to be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must complete the application form in its entirety and return it to the NYRWA by the entry postmark deadline, February 1, 2024. All pertinent information on applying are within the Official Rules, including the requirement to include an essay and student transcripts to be eligible.

The application can be found here: https://nyruralwater.org/downloads/downloads-index, the link is on the right hand side. Please be sure to share this application with anyone that will be attending college in the Fall of 2024.

In an effort to continue to serve our membership, our staff worked diligently to develop initial certification courses for both Grade C & D water operation specialists. The new classroom-based courses are approved by the NYS Department of Health, Bureau of Water Supply Protection, and meet the most current standards as identified in the model curriculum. Our thanks to the NYSDOH personnel for their expedient yet thorough review and approval of our course materials.

To our members…we appreciate your patience and understanding as we completed this transition. We have a Grade D course already scheduled and plan to offer (2) more courses in 2023 that will accept both Grade C & D students. Please keep an eye on our website training page for more information https://www.nyruralwater.org/training/classroom-training

**Update: We have a course pending approval for October in Watertown and December in Ghent.  Please check the website frequently for this posting.

Have you received water and/or wastewater technical assistance from NYRWA? Have you attended NYRWA in-person or web-based training? Has your system benefited from a Source Water Protection Plan or Energy Efficiency Assessment from NYRWA? If so, WE NEED YOUR HELP!  NYRWA is respectfully asking our system members to draft and submit letters of support for the services you have received. These letters are crucial so we can deliver your message to our elected representatives that more needs to be done to fund water and wastewater infrastructure. Please, we need as many members as possible to draft the support letters on your letterhead and mail to our office at:

NYRWA, Inc.
PO Box 487
Claverack, NY 12513

Let's make this letter writing campaign a huge success, please participate. We thank you in advance for your consideration.

This year, many of our one-day training sessions are free to attend. We ask that when you are submitting your pre-registration forms that you complete them in their entirety, as we need all the information to process your registration. We appreciate your time and effort in submitting fully complete registration forms. There will not be an invoice sent for these free classes. We would like to ask that if you are unable to attend a training session, even the free classes, that you email our office (nyrwa@nyruralwater.org) to cancel at least three business days prior to the date of the class you are registered to attend. This will allow us to contact another student so they can attend and receive their needed contact hours. 

Don't have time to spend traveling to sit in a class all day? The best place to receive renewal web based training is at home or work, whichever your schedule allows. You can work at your own pace. SunCoast Learning Systems offers some great topics that will fit your certification requirement needs. Online courses are New York State approved and offer the flexibility and convenience you are looking for. For more information call 1-800-269-1181 or visit https://www.suncoastlearning.com/courses/ny.

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