The New York Times reports that 3M has agreed to pay New Jersey up to $450 million over the next 25 years to settle claims related to PFAS contamination. The PFAS were manufactured by 3M and used for decades at the Chambers Works facility in Deepwater, New Jersey, a site owned by DuPont.
New Jersey filed a lawsuit in 2019, alleging that the facility contaminated drinking water with PFAS. This settlement, the largest of its kind in New Jersey's history, will fund cleanup efforts, drinking water treatment and cover damages.
Study Shows Effectiveness of COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance
Adding to the growing evidence that wastewater surveillance is effective, a recent study from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities shows that it can accurately predict the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 infections in a community.
For the study, published late last week in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, the investigators used real-time polymerase chain reaction and population-outcome models to identify any relationship between symptomatic COVID-19 infection in workers in a Minnesota healthcare system and SARS-CoV-2 community wastewater concentrations from January 2022 to August 2024.
Toledo Plans New Water Supply Pipeline
The city of Toledo, Ohio, is planning to construct a 10-mile pipeline to transport water from the Low Service Pumping Station near the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge to the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant.
This project aims to serve 500,000 customers in the Toledo area and will run through Jerusalem Township and Oregon. City officials and the project team will present the details of this initiative to the public at a meeting later this month.
