The Wolverine PFAS settlement is actually two separate deals resolving claims that Wolverine World Wide’s decades of tannery-waste dumping contaminated drinking water across northern Kent County, Michigan. A $69.5 million consent decree, approved by a federal judge in February 2020, requires the company to extend municipal water to more than 1,000 homes and clean up the contaminated sites. A separate $54 million class action settlement, approved in March 2023, pays 1,733 property owners directly. Chemical maker 3M contributed $55 million toward Wolverine’s costs under a side agreement. Cleanup work and follow-on disputes over payments and scope are still active in federal court.
How the Contamination Happened
Wolverine ran a leather tannery in Rockford, Michigan, starting in the late 1950s. The tannery used 3M’s Scotchgard, which contained PFAS, to waterproof leather. For decades, Wolverine disposed of the resulting sludge at sites around Kent County, most notably the House Street Disposal Area in Belmont, where dumping went back as far as 1939. Other sites included a location on 12 Mile Road north of Rockford, the former Northeast Gravel Company property in Plainfield Township (now the Boulder Creek Golf Club), and the State Disposal Landfill. 1PFAS Project. Belmont Plainfield Rockford MI
The problem surfaced in 2016, when Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (now EGLE) detected PFAS in private drinking water wells near the old disposal sites. Of 1,783 private wells tested by September 2018, 982 showed detectable PFAS, and 299 exceeded 70 parts per trillion. 2Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. North Kent County Exposure Assessment Second Report
The $69.5 Million Consent Decree
Michigan’s environmental agency sued Wolverine in January 2018. Plainfield Charter Township and Algoma Township joined the case. U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff approved the resulting consent decree on February 19, 2020. 3MLive. Judge Approves Wolverine PFAS Water Settlement
Under the agreement, Wolverine pays $69.5 million over multiple years to extend Plainfield Township’s municipal water system to more than 1,000 properties in Plainfield and Algoma Townships, covering all hookup and connection fees. The decree also imposes ongoing obligations:
- Maintain drinking water filters for homes in the North Kent County study area where combined PFOA and PFOS levels exceed 10 parts per trillion, and keep testing residential wells.
- Monitor groundwater and investigate PFAS entering surface waters.
- Carry out cleanup at both the House Street Disposal Area and the former tannery, including source control.
- Contribute funding toward a new wellfield and filtration improvements for Plainfield Township’s system. 4U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Wolverine Worldwide Press Release
Construction started in 2020. By January 2024, crews had installed 25 miles of water main serving more than 1,200 residences. 5Fox 17. Plainfield Township Approves Payment Extension With Wolverine for PFAS Solutions
The $54 Million Class Action for Property Owners
The consent decree resolved the state’s and townships’ claims. It did not pay individual property owners. That happened in a separate class action, Zimmerman, et al. v. The 3M Company and Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (Case No. 1:17-cv-01062), filed in December 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. 6Wolverine 3M Class Settlement. Frequently Asked Questions
Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou granted final approval to a $54 million settlement on March 29, 2023, calling it “a reasonable and fair resolution.” The deal covered 1,733 property owners in affected areas of Kent County. Compensation was tied to the severity of contamination, the number of residents at each property, and how long they were exposed. Residents in the North Kent Study Area whose wells tested above state maximums qualified for the highest awards, and class representatives received between $15,000 and $25,000 each. Only one objection was filed, and it was denied. Three owners opted out. Attorneys’ fees of $1.5 million were approved. 7WBE LLP. Judge Approves $54M Settlement in Wolverine Worldwide and 3M Forever Chemicals Class Action 8Bloomberg Law. 3M, Wolverine to Pay $54 Million in PFAS Dumping Settlement 9Angeion Group. Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement
3M’s $55 Million Payment to Wolverine
3M, which made the Scotchgard chemicals used at the tannery, reached its own agreement with Wolverine and paid $55 million in a lump sum to help offset remediation costs. That payment released 3M from further financial responsibility under the consent decree. Wolverine treated the recovery as a partial offset to its total environmental spending, which the company estimated at $113 million in late 2019. 10Twin Cities Business. 3M Settles With Wolverine for $55M
The $19 Million Payment Fight and Its Resolution
In mid-2023, Plainfield Township accused Wolverine of trying to avoid paying roughly $19 million of the remaining consent decree balance. Township Manager Cameron Van Wyngarden said construction was still going, bills were unpaid, and water plant upgrades still needed funding. If Wolverine capped its payments early, he warned, the cost would shift to local water customers. 11WZZM 13. Wolverine Worldwide Trying to Dodge $19 Million PFAS Settlement Obligations, Plainfield Twp Says
Wolverine responded that the project was coming in almost $20 million under budget and that the decree limited its obligation to “actual total project costs.” The company said it had already paid more than $40 million and that the township had not documented its claimed expenses. 12Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. Wolverine, Plainfield Township Dispute Terms of PFAS Settlement, Request Court Intervention
The fight was settled without a court ruling. In January 2024, the Plainfield Township Board of Trustees approved a deal under which Wolverine paid $7 million immediately (bringing its total to $51 million) and will continue making annual payments each April until the full amount is paid by 2027. 13Yahoo News. Wolverine, Plainfield Twp Agree to Extend Payment Terms
Where the Cleanup Stands
The Former Rockford Tannery
A groundwater interceptor system at the former tannery site began operating on March 19, 2025. It runs about 2,000 linear feet of groundwater capture trenches, six extraction wells, and 28 monitoring piezometers, treating captured groundwater on-site with granular activated carbon before discharge into the Rogue River under a state permit. 14We Are Wolverine. Tannery Remediation Update April 17, 2025
Startup came years later than planned, after disputes between Wolverine and EGLE over design and schedule. 15MLive. Wolverine Worldwide Tannery Cleanup Launch Pushed Back to 2024 The system is now in a two-year performance monitoring period. A final completion report and long-term operation plan are due in September 2027. 16Michigan PFAS Response. Rockford Tannery
House Street Disposal Area
At the House Street dump in Belmont, waste relocation was finished in 2024, and final capping of 27 acres was completed in July 2025. EGLE has since issued letters of disapproval on several of Wolverine’s completion reports, and quarterly methane monitoring, water-level measurements, and interim groundwater sampling continue. 17Michigan PFAS Response. House Street Disposal Area
The Area 19 Fight
The largest open dispute involves a residential zone in Algoma Township known as Area 19, between 11 Mile and 12 Mile Roads. In February 2026, Wolverine asked the federal court in Grand Rapids to compel EGLE to approve its work there. The company says the consent decree required only well installation and a single round of sampling, both completed in 2023, and argues there is no direct evidence tying its history to the PFAS found in the area. 18MLive. Wolverine Worldwide Clashes With State Over PFAS Cleanup Scope
EGLE reads the decree differently. A spokesperson said the agreement requires Wolverine to “define the vertical and horizontal extent of PFAS contamination” in Area 19 and that the obligation has not been met. The agency wants more comprehensive groundwater testing and filter coverage for homes not connected to the new water mains. 18MLive. Wolverine Worldwide Clashes With State Over PFAS Cleanup Scope
Health Findings for Affected Residents
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services launched the North Kent County Exposure Assessment in November 2018 to measure PFAS in the blood of people who had been drinking contaminated well water. Residents showed “significantly high” PFAS blood levels compared to national averages, with a clear correlation between the volume of unfiltered well water they had consumed and the concentration of chemicals in their blood. 19Environmental Health News. Michigan Community Faces Elevated PFAS Levels in Drinking Water and Blood
Research has linked PFAS exposure to increased cholesterol, liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased immune response to vaccines, kidney and testicular cancer, reduced fertility, and pregnancy complications including hypertension and lower birth weight. 2Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. North Kent County Exposure Assessment Second Report The Kent County Health Department also opened a cancer cluster study looking at rates among residents near the House Street site, the 12 Mile Road location, and the Boulder Creek Golf Club over the previous 25 years. 1PFAS Project. Belmont Plainfield Rockford MI Whole-house water filtration was shown to lower residents’ PFAS blood levels over time. 19Environmental Health News. Michigan Community Faces Elevated PFAS Levels in Drinking Water and Blood