DuPont Co. will pay $27 million to settle a 2016 national class-action lawsuit blaming it and other companies for polluting the drinking water of Hoosick Falls and town of Hoosick residents over decades with perfluorinated substances, or "forever chemicals," from factories, an attorney representing the residents said Wednesday night.

DuPont, which declined four years ago to join Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Honeywell International and 3M in endorsing a $65.25 million settlement in the case, agreed to resolve the suit before a jury trial began Tuesday, leading to a settlement conference with U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino, according to court papers. 

The last-minute negotiated deal, which requires the judge's approval, would bring the total amount recovered in the lawsuit to $92,250,000, attorneys for the residents noted.

“On the eve of trial, after a nine-year fight, that included an interim appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, we are gratified to have reached what we believe will be the final resolution of this case that will provide significant added benefit to the residents of Hoosick Falls and the Town of Hoosick,” said attorney Stephen Schwarz of Faraci Lange in Rochester.

The agreement would bring the total amount given to residents for property losses due to contamination to around $35 million, and an additional $6 million in funding for an existing 10-year medical monitoring program, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.

Ten years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed village residents their drinking water was unsafe due to contamination by chemicals known as PFOAs (perfluorooctanoic acid), which are used in the manufacture of non-stick pans, as well as industrial and commercial products.

Described as “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally in the environment, PFAS have been linked to a variety of health problems, including liver and immune-system damage and some cancers. 

The compounds have been detected at varying levels in drinking water around the nation.

Lifelong Hoosick Falls village resident Michael Hickey was among the first to raise the issue of contamination after his father’s passing at age 68 due to kidney cancer in 2013.

In 2016, residents of Hoosick Falls accused the four companies of playing a role in polluting the local water supply and town wells with perfluorinated chemicals.

The 2021 settlement with Saint-Gobain, Honeywell and 3M provided payments for residents and homeowners, and the 10-year medical monitoring program.

Earlier this year, Hoosick Falls adopted a new water source, establishing two new wells, a pump house and a mile-long pipeline carrying water to the village's existing treatment plant were authorized to start running.