GJN board member Geert Lennssens wins a PFAS-related pilot case against 3M before the courts in Antwerp

May 15, 2023.

GJN board member Geert G.R. LENSSENS (Brussels – Belgium ) has won a pilot case against the American chemical giant 3M before the courts in Antwerp.

Antwerp harbours of the biggest PFAS hotspots worldwide with a contamination of thousands of inhabitants, soils, animals and plants (see https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-06/3m-mmm-faces-costs-after-581-million-toxic-chemical-cleanup-pact-for-pfas).

The judgement is the first in his kind in Europe and possibly even worldwide. The Belgian Judge ruled that there is an abnormal impact of the 3M factory on the neighbourhood and that 3M is liable. A mass action with many other inhabitants will start soon.

The Government already started blood tests for 75.000 local inhabitants but the real impact may even be higher.