The city of Hastings, Minnesota, has filed a lawsuit against 3M alleging that PFAS contamination in its drinking water was caused by emissions from the company’s Cottage Grove manufacturing facility.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 26 in Dakota County District Court, alleges that PFOA released from the facility over several decades was transported through the air and deposited onto soil before migrating into groundwater and the city’s public wells. 3M manufactured PFOA at the Cottage Grove facility from the 1940s until the chemical was discontinued in the early 2000s.

Hastings is now developing water treatment facilities to remove PFAS and comply with federal drinking water requirements. The city expects the treatment work to cost tens of millions of dollars and is seeking to hold 3M responsible for those expenses.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency determined in 2024 that PFAS detected in one of Hastings’ wells was linked to the Cottage Grove facility. The finding made the city eligible for approximately $15 million from an $850 million settlement Minnesota reached with 3M in 2018 over PFAS contamination in the Twin Cities east metro.

Hastings contends that the settlement funding is insufficient to cover its treatment costs. The city also opted out of a separate nationwide 3M settlement approved in 2024 that requires the company to pay at least $10.3 billion to public water suppliers addressing PFAS contamination.

The lawsuit alleges that 3M concealed information about the relationship between its air emissions and groundwater contamination. A 3M spokesperson called Hastings’ decision to sue “unfortunate” and said the company remains willing to discuss the city’s concerns.

Hastings joins a growing number of communities seeking to recover the costs of PFAS monitoring, treatment and remediation from manufacturers as utilities work to address contamination and meet increasingly stringent drinking water requirements.