Number of lawsuits served

[Table of](#i7860c65eab2647ffbae7e3867c1cf525_7) [Contents](#i7860c65eab2647ffbae7e3867c1cf525_7)In December 2018, the JPML granted motions to transfer and consolidate all AFFF cases pending in federal courts to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina to be managed in an MDL proceeding to centralize pre-trial proceedings. The parties in the MDL are currently in the process of conducting discovery. An initial pool of ten water supplier cases was selected in February 2021 for case-specific fact discovery as potential bellwether cases. In October 2021, the parties and the MDL court selected three of these cases for additional fact and expert discovery and for potential trial as bellwether cases. The MDL court has repeatedly encouraged the parties to negotiate to resolve cases in the MDL. The parties jointly recommended a mediator to assist their efforts in seeking to resolve some or all of the claims asserted in the MDL. The court's decision on the mediator is pending. In November 2021, the defendants filed an omnibus motion regarding their government contractor defense. Oral argument on the motion was held in August 2022. In September 2022, the court issued an order denying defendants’ summary judgment motions on the government contractor defense, which can be presented to a jury at future trials. In September 2022, the court selected the City of Stuart, Florida public water supplier case as the first bellwether trial, to begin in June 2023.In June 2019, several subsidiaries of Valero Energy Corporation, an independent petroleum refiner, filed eight AFFF cases against 3M and other defendants, including DuPont/Chemours, National Foam, Buckeye Fire Equipment, and Kidde-Fenwal, in various state courts. Plaintiffs seek damages that allegedly have been or will be incurred in investigating and remediating PFAS contamination at their properties and replacing or disposing of AFFF products containing long-chain PFAS compounds. Two of these cases have been removed to federal court and transferred to the AFFF MDL. Five cases remain pending in state courts where they are in early stages of litigation, after Valero dismissed its Ohio state court action without prejudice in October 2019. The parties in the state court cases have agreed to stay all five cases.As of September 30, 2022, the Company is aware of 24 other AFFF suits originally filed in various state courts in which the Company has been named a defendant. 3M anticipates that most of these cases will eventually be removed to federal court and transferred to the AFFF MDL; however, at least two personal injury cases are expected to remain pending in state courts. Two subsidiaries of Husky Energy filed suit in April 2020 against 3M and other AFFF manufacturers in Wisconsin state court relating to alleged PFAS contamination from AFFF use at Husky facilities in Superior, Wisconsin and Lima, Ohio. The parties have entered into a tolling agreement deferring further action on the plaintiffs’ claims. The plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal without prejudice in September 2020.Separately, the Company is aware of pre-suit claims or demands by other parties related to the use and disposal of AFFF, one of which purports to represent a large group of firefighters. The Company had discussions with certain potential pre-suit claimants and, as a result of such discussions, reached a negotiated resolution for an immaterial amount with the City of Bemidji in March 2021.Other PFAS-related Product and Environmental Litigation3M manufactured and sold various products containing PFOA and PFOS, including Scotchgard, for several decades. Starting in 2017, 3M has been served with individual and putative class action complaints in various state and federal courts alleging, among other things, that 3M’s customers’ improper disposal of PFOA and PFOS resulted in the contamination of groundwater or surface water. The plaintiffs in these cases generally allege that 3M failed to warn its customers about the hazards of improper disposal of the product. They also generally allege that contaminated groundwater has caused various injuries, including personal injury, loss of use and enjoyment of their properties, diminished property values, investigation costs, and remediation costs. Several companies have been sued along with 3M, including Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., Honeywell International Inc. f/k/a Allied-Signal Inc. and/or AlliedSignal Laminate Systems, Inc., Wolverine World Wide Inc., Georgia-Pacific LLC, E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co., Chemours Co., and various carpet manufacturers.41
