The City of Manitowoc has made a decision about where they stand on the PFAS lawsuits against two corporations.
The common council voted unanimously last Wednesday (November 29th) during a special council meeting to stay in the lawsuit, unlike their Cool City counterparts.
Mayor Justin Nickels says after a discussion with Manitowoc Public Utilities, who takes care of the city’s water, and looking at the facts of the cases, it made sense for Manitowoc to stay in.
“The city would definitely get a benefit,” he clarified. “And the other benefit that we have is long term down the road no matter what, we still have Lake Michigan and that clean water where we can provide clean water to anyone in our area. When were able to provide water from Lake Michigan, it’s much less of a concern.”
Nickels says right now, isn’t known what the settlement money would be used for.
Two Rivers City Manager Greg Buckley told Seehafer News last week that the city saw too many risks with the lawsuit and decided to opt-out.
Nickels countered with, “Sometimes the more the merrier. It proves a point that this isn’t just a singular issue it’s a nationwide issue with PFAS. So, to us we felt the risk was very minimalized. If the lawsuit doesn’t go our way, what’s the harm I guess.”
The lawsuits against 3M and Dupont would allow between $10.5 billion to $12 billion to be returned to communities after the companies both had links to PFAS or forever chemicals that can affect people’s health greatly if ingested in drinking water.
