On September 25, 2025, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe filed a lawsuit against 3M, BASF, DuPont, Tyco, and related companies for PFAS contamination in water supplies and natural resources on the Leech Lake Reservation. The Tribal plaintiffs are represented by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and co-counsel in their efforts to obtain justice for PFAS contamination on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are human-made chemicals used in many industrial and consumer products for their resistance to heat, water, and oil. Because they do not readily break down, PFAS persist in the environment and the human body for decades, earning the name “forever chemicals.”
In addition to contamination originally found in the public water system at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School, PFAS have subsequently been detected in the Tribe’s lakes, fish, and wild game, threatening Tribal members’ health and substantially endangering subsistence and cultural practices central to the Tribe’s honored way of life.
In 2023 and 2024, defendants in Leech Lake’s suit entered into separate nationwide settlements related to PFAS contamination in public water systems. However, based on the number of people its water systems serve, Leech Lake could not have participated in many of these settlements. Further, the one prior settlement that Leech Lake could have participated in did not consider tribal interests, required a over-broad release of PFAS-related claims, and would not have adequately compensated Leech Lake for PFAS-related harms. Those trade-offs were not acceptable to the Band, which initiated the 2025 lawsuit.
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is committed to protecting and preserving the water, land, and sky that the Ojibwe people rely on for health, wellness, and spirituality. “The corporations responsible for poisoning our water, land, and people must be held accountable for the damage they have caused in the name of profits for their shareholders,” the Tribe said in announcing the lawsuit. “The products that have caused PFAS pollution were marketed as conveniences to make profits at the expense of the health of humans, animals, and the environment.”
As alleged in the complaint, the defendants in the Band’s lawsuit knew the dangers PFAS posed to human health and the environment, and yet they continued to sell and distribute products containing PFAS. Leech Lake filed this suit to hold them accountable.
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