Rare PFAS factory shutdown in Belgium costs 3M

3M has faced an avalanche of lawsuits and regulatory actions over PFAS but only once has a plant been forced to stop producing the controversial chemicals.

That 3M plant in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, has now been partly closed — by government edict — for five months, crimping 3M's sales to the semiconductor, data center and automotive industries.

And no easy remedy is in the sight for the Maplewood-based industrial giant.

"3M is working to address operational disruptions at one of our Belgian facilities impacting some of our products," the company said in a statement. "However, the timeline to resolve the situation is uncertain and, in several aspects, not in 3M's control. We have communicated with our customers about the potential for disruption."

The company's Belgian facility — which continues to produce non-PFAS products — is one of five 3M plants that directly produce PFAS chemicals, which resist heat, oil, stains and water and are used in a host of products.

Another PFAS production operation is in Germany, while there are three in the United States, including one in Cottage Grove. The Belgian plant is also a big producer of electronics coolants that are fashioned from PFAS chemicals.

3M accounts for 90% of global coolant production, with the Zwijndrecht plant alone comprising 80%, according to recent research by Resilinc, a northern California-based supply-chain consultant.

3M is trying to make up for lost Belgian production at a U.S. plant, but the latter has limited capacity and can't meet global demand, a Resilinc report said. 3M's lost production has had little to no impact on some coolant buyers, but likely significant effects on others, the report said.

Ming-Chi Kuo, a stock analyst who follows Apple and other technology companies, has tweeted that the Belgian plant shutdown's impact on daily production in the semiconductor manufacturing business is minimal.

3M CEO Mike Roman said in January during an earnings call that the Belgian shutdown could have a "material impact" and that restoring production is a "priority." Essentially, 3M has to meet new and stricter PFAS emissions rules in Belgium to renew production.

Two weeks ago, the company announced it would spend $164 million in environmental remediation for historic PFAS contamination in Belgium. This is in addition to the roughly $145 million 3M pledged in September.

PFAS pollution in Belgium first became public a few years ago during a highway construction project. Tests showed elevated levels of PFOS in the soil and water, and in the blood of about 800 nearby residents.

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known for their nonstick and water-resistant properties and have long been used in products ranging from fabric protectors to firefighting foam.

But the so-called "forever chemicals" don't break down in the environment and can accumulate in blood. PFAS has polluted groundwater — including in Washington County — and some studies have linked it to health risks, including certain types of cancer.

3M stopped making PFAS chemicals at the heart of the controversy — PFOA and PFOS — about 20 years ago, and the company is facing a tidal wave of U.S. litigation over pollution related to those two compounds. Liabilities for 3M could be in the billions of dollars.

Earlier this month, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sued 3M over alleged environmental contamination at its Cordova, Ill., plant, which has long produced PFAS chemicals. A suit by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson over PFAS contamination resulted in an $850 million settlement with 3M in 2018.

In Belgium, PFAS issues involve both contamination from legacy production and failure to disclose releases of newer-generation chemicals in the PFAS family.

Newer varieties of PFAS — unlike PFOS and PFOA — are composed of shorter chains of fluorinated carbon atoms. Still, four European countries last summer said they would propose restrictions on shorter-chain PFAS to European Union environmental regulators.

"Short-chain PFAs are not a good alternative to long-chain PFAS," said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, a U.S. research and advocacy group. Short-chain PFAS could entail similar ill health effects, and also do not break down in the environment, she said.

In response, 3M said that a " blunt or one-size-fits-all approach to this nuanced topic isn't scientifically appropriate, and doesn't reflect that certain fluorochemistries are safely used today in crucial sectors, including semiconductors, medical supplies and national security."