Legal

Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said on Jun. 22.

Funds will support City's infrastructure recovery, help community rebuild.

A dissenting judge called the bankruptcy an illegitimate "shell game".

New Indy attorneys went before a federal judge on Tuesday to push to have one of the many lawsuits against them dismissed.

Previously, a motion by the company to dismiss a class-action suit in August 2022 was dismissed.

The City of Kalamazoo and Gov. Whitmer are among many entities and individuals listed in the suit, which demands hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.

The companies will collectively establish and contribute a total of $1.185 billion to a settlement fund.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein toured Canton on Wednesday morning. Along with Mayor Zeb Smathers, he walked in the shadow of the soon-to-be shuttered Pactiv Evergreen paper mill. He said Pactiv Evergreen is in violation of a contract it signed for a $12 million state grant promising the plant would stay open through next year. And Stein said the state will enforce its rights under that contract.

Notice comes as Paper Excellence executives grilled by members of Parliament.

A federal court in California dismissed a seven-year lawsuit brought by Resolute Forest Products against a number of Greenpeace staff members and entities, including Greenpeace International and Greenpeace USA. The Canadian logging company sued the Greenpeace defendants for CA $100 million in an attempt to silence and bankrupt them, after criticism of its unsustainable forestry practices.

The plaintiffs were granted a temporary restraining order against Great Lakes Tissue, which stopped them from moving, using, hiding or damaging more than 60 pieces of leased equipment that were critical in the facility's work.

Plans to investigate Paper Excellence's ownership structure and business ties now face delays at the federal and provincial level.

Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice, Resolute Forest Products Inc. was fined $120,000.

Van Den Heuvel was convicted of fraud in Wisconsin and handed a 7.5-year prison sentence in 2019. He was released during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest in Cheboygan.

Members' motion to look into Paper Excellence to be presented at provincial council meeting in May.

On April 12, 2023, a Nebraska jury rendered a unanimous verdict against Wright Printing Company, its owner, Mark Wright, and CEO Mardra Sikora for a total of $5 million in actual and punitive damages. The lawsuit was filed by Crabar/GBF, Inc., a subsidiary of Ennis, Inc., which purchased Wright Printing Company's Folder Express and Progress Publications folder businesses for $15 million in 2013.

Canada's Standing Committee on Natural Resources has passed a motion to investigate the ownership structure and business relations of Paper Excellence, a pulp and paper company based in Richmond.

The lawsuits against 3M and Dupont seek financial damages to pay for the state's investigation into PFAS contamination.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday conducted on-site inspections of seven facilities linked to paper distributor Japan Pulp and Paper Co. and three other companies over suspected bid-rigging.

Paper Excellence says it will appear before MPs if summoned by the Natural Resources committee.

The closure of the Canton paper mill raises questions over whether the Pactiv Evergreen will have to repay some or all of a $12 million state grant it received eight years ago.

Congressman Chuck Edwards had called for an investigation.

The findings are the latest issue for the beleaguered mill.

Damico has been accused of stabbing another individual at the packaging warehouse following an altercation, as stated in Grundy County court records. Both the victim and Damico were employees at the business.

According to a press release received Monday by Erin Wilson, director of communications for the N.C. Department of Labor, WestRock Kraft Paper LLC was cited with two alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina with a total penalty of $29,004.