3M has agreed to make payments worth $7.35 billion across nine years to settle more than 100,000 personal injury claims over the use of its PFAS-based fire-fighting foam.

It’s the second major 3M settlement in lawsuits involving firefighting foams known as aqueous film-forming foam. The foam contains perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which do not biodegrade and have been linked to cancer and liver damage.

The two sets of settlements together would be worth nearly $20 billion.

The settlement reduces major uncertainty among analysts and investors and paves a way for the Minnesota-based company to pay off its liabilities and still meet growth goals.

3M, one of the main makers of PFAS, has been at the center of a multitude of lawsuits regarding the “forever chemicals.” The latest settlement is the last major piece of product liability exposure 3M was facing, which included its Combat Arms earplugs as well as PFAS.

3M announced the settlement on Tuesday, after the markets closed. On Wednesday, its stock value has increased 9.7%, putting it on track for its largest gain in two years.

“3M’s difficult to handicap PFAS liability has arguably been the single biggest hurdle for many investors to owning the stock,” Melius Research analyst Scott Davis wrote in a research note after the announcement.

The announcement reduced major uncertainty for the company, he said.

CEO Bill Brown told investors Wednesday during a conference call that the settlement achieved a few main goals for 3M, including a payment schedule that allows the company to cover the payouts with cash generated each year.

The company also will be able to fund growth goals at the same time, Brown said.

Combined payments for the major lawsuit settlements will peak at $3.1 billion in 2027 and taper off through 2034, said Chief Financial Officer Anurag Maheshwari on the call.

That figure includes both of the firefighting foam lawsuits and a third regarding Combat Arms earplugs.

The second firefighting foam settlement was in June 2023 and in the same South Carolina federal court as Tuesday’s agreement.

The earlier settlement was over drinking water contamination involving cities, municipalities and water districts. That was for as much as $12.5 billion paid over a dozen years.

In August 2023, 3M announced a$6 billion settlement for a set of legal cases involving the earplugs.

The company is not admitting wrongdoing as part of the settlements, and stands ready to fight the cases in court if settlement terms are not fulfilled.

The settlement announced Tuesday covers up to 120,000 eligible plaintiffs, including firefighters and military personnel who used the foams to fight fires or, more often, in firefighting training exercises.

3M will account for the settlement with a pretax charge of $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026.

One firm representing plaintiffs, South Carolina’s Motley Rice, celebrated the settlement announcement Tuesday night.

A statement from the firm called it “a favorable result for victims who are in urgent need of support to cover the mounting medical bills and other costs frequently associated with toxic PFAS exposure.”

Over the years, 3M also has settled other PFAS lawsuits, including chemicals seeping into the ground around its plants and regarding other uses of the class of chemicals.

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