Staff Report / July 12, 2026
ALBANY – New York State is taking a aggressive legal stand against some of the country’s most powerful chemical manufacturing conglomerates, alleging they poisoned the state’s natural resources while actively hiding the dangers from the public. Attorney General Letitia James has officially filed a sweeping lawsuit targeting the corporate giants behind the production of toxic “forever chemicals”.
The state’s legal complaint names heavy hitters 3M Company, EIDP Inc., The Chemours Company, Corteva Inc., and DuPont de Nemours Inc.. The state argues that these manufacturers aggressively marketed and sold products saturated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), fully aware of the severe environmental and human health catastrophes they would trigger. These compounds earned the “forever chemicals” moniker due to their inability to naturally break down, allowing them to permanently accumulate in local water supplies, wildlife, and human tissue. According to the lawsuit, internal corporate documents dating as far back as the 1970s and 1980s prove the companies identified these critical health hazards internally while choosing to downplay or bury the research from regulators and consumers.
“Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and polluted our environment for decades,” Attorney General James stated. “It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused.”
The massive legal action aims to force a complete systemic cleanup and secure financial accountability through several critical court-ordered mandates.
- Funding Statewide Remediation: The lawsuit demands that the manufacturing companies completely foot the bill for extensive PFAS cleanup and filtration initiatives across all affected New York communities.
- Compensating for Public Harm: The state is seeking significant financial restitution, statutory penalties, and the clawback of corporate profits allegedly earned through decades of deceptive business practices.
- Mandating Clear Product Warnings: Attorney General James is pushing for an immediate court order to block the companies from selling any future PFAS-laden goods within the state unless they carry highly visible, adequate safety disclosures.
- Targeting Common Consumer Goods: The complaint highlights the widespread infiltration of these toxic chemicals in everyday household items, including stain-resistant textiles, waterproof outdoor gear, food containers, nonstick pots and pans, and common cosmetics.
- Addressing Severe Health Risks: Legal teams are leveraging established medical studies linking prolonged PFAS exposure to spiked cancer risks, birth defects, high cholesterol, severe pregnancy complications, and severe hormonal disruptions.
The corporate defendants named in the filing had not issued any public statements or legal responses to the state’s allegations at the time of the Attorney General’s formal announcement.
