Minnesota’s PFAS History and Contamination
3M Company, headquartered in Maplewood, Minnesota, manufactured PFOS and PFOA for decades at its Cottage Grove facility. Disposal of PFAS-containing waste at landfills and disposal sites in the eastern Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area contaminated groundwater serving communities including Oakdale, Lake Elmo, Woodbury, and others. The contamination was first documented in the early 2000s and triggered the first major regulatory confrontation between a state and a PFAS manufacturer.
The Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency conducted extensive groundwater monitoring, establishing a comprehensive picture of the contamination plume. 3M settled with the state for $850 million in 2018 — at the time the largest PFAS settlement in history — to fund clean water projects in affected communities and statewide.
Minnesota’s Regulatory Innovations
Minnesota developed health-based water quality guidance values for 24 PFAS compounds — among the first comprehensive state-level PFAS standards in the United States. The state’s health risk limits for PFAS in groundwater drove cleanup requirements at contaminated sites and informed water treatment decisions at affected utilities.
Minnesota also led in developing fish tissue consumption advisories for PFAS-contaminated waters, establishing guidance for how much contaminated fish from affected lakes and rivers is safe to consume. This work provided a model for other states developing similar advisories.
Current Program and National Influence
Minnesota’s PFAS program has evolved into one of the most sophisticated state PFAS regulatory frameworks, encompassing drinking water standards, environmental cleanup standards, emerging contaminant monitoring, and consumer product restrictions. The state’s PFAS innovation fund — supported by the 3M settlement — has funded research on PFAS treatment technologies, health effects, and exposure assessment.
Minnesota’s regulatory experience has directly influenced EPA rulemaking and national policy discussions. Former Minnesota officials have contributed to federal PFAS programs, and the state’s methodological approaches for risk assessment and standard-setting have been adopted or adapted by multiple other states and EPA.