City of Bend expects nearly $1 million from lawsuit settlement after finding ‘forever chemicals’ in city well

(Update: Adding video, comments from city water officials)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend city councilors voted to have the city join a federal class-action lawsuit against 3M and DuPont de Nemours after a small amount of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," was found in a city well during testing earlier this year.

In May, city staff tested its water sources and found a small amount of PFAS in one well, the Copperstone Well No. 1 near Mt. Washington Drive. It was immediately shut down and remains so, city officials said, assuring that city tap water is still safe to drink.

"There is so much uncertainty in the future, with respect to price and really where and when we're going to detect a PFAS in our water and wastewater supplies," Utility Director Mike Buettner said Tuesday.

Councilor Anthony Broadman told colleagues toward the close of last week's meeting that the city is in a class of claimants in a class-action lawsuit against the two companies that make firefighting foam found to contain PFAS. The companies agreed to settle the claims in return for payment to governments for impacts to their water systems.

Broadman said councilors discussed the pros and cons of joining in the lawsuit, consolidated in a South Carolina federal court, with city attorneys and staff during a closed-door executive session. The council voted unanimously to authorize staff to take part.

Mayor Melanie Kebler noted that the city Utility Department has a web page with details about PFAS, the one well water detection (none since) and that the city is tracking regulatory developments and working on remediation plans as it joins in the lawsuit for potential compensation.

A study released earlier this year by the US Geological Survey found nearly half the tap water in the US is contaminated with the per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, chemicals that are considered dangerous to human health.

Bend Water Quality Manager Drexell Barnes said, "We live in a pretty good area, as far as we don't have a lot of potential PFAS contamination for our water sources."

After months of testing, the city's Water Quality Department determined the water is still safe to drink, but the city wants the well replaced.

Barnes said, "We'll continue to work with our regulatory partners, the Oregon Health Authority and the EPA, and decide what to do with that well, basically, and definitely more testing."

The class-action suit is one of nearly 4,000 lawsuits filed across the country against the two companies over PFAS contamination.

Earlier this year, 3M agreed to pay $10.3 billion over 13 years for testing and cleanup.

In Bend, officials said the money from the settlement would help pay for cleanup of the chemicals and the installation of a new well, if needed. 

 Buettner added, "As a part of the class-action lawsuit, we estimate the maximum possible payout to be just under $1 million -- which isn't a lot, in terms of infrastructure and water infrastructure and what we might need to do to this well long-term. So we're preparing for for a lot of different possible scenarios."