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BRIDGEPORT — Three years after joining a nationwide class action lawsuit, the village of Bridgeport received its first settlement check last week.

During a council meeting Tuesday, Solicitor Michael Shaheen presented a check for $131,803.39 to Mayor Norma Teasdale. He noted it was the first of several checks the village can expect to receive from four defendants in a case that found them liable for damages caused by aqueous film-forming foams.

In total, he said the community will gross “well in excess of $1 million” before required deductions such as attorneys’ fees and expenses. Those amounts must be approved by a committee formed by the court that includes attorneys from across the nation who are not associated with the case.

After associated fees are deducted from that amount, he expects the village to end up with about $750,000.

Shaheen said the chemicals in question are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” These substances are used in a wide range of industrial and consumer products and are used in things such as dry cleaning processes and fire extinguishers.

In July 2020, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency discovered that two of the village’s five drinking water wells had been contaminated with a high level of PFAs. As a result, the village now purchases water from the city of Martins Ferry to provide to its roughly 1,600 residents and to its water customers, including the village of Brookside.

Shaheen said the precise source of the contamination remains unclear, but he noted its origin had to be at some point to the north — upstream along the Ohio River.

The four defendants involved in the lawsuit are chemical producers 3M, DuPont, BASF and Tyco.

“3M is the largest,” he noted. “Their overall settlement exceeds $1 billion.”

To seek relief for Bridgeport, Shaheen worked with a law firm in Louisiana — Cossich, Sumich, Parsiola & Taylor LLC, which served as lead counsel on the class action lawsuit.

“There are dozens and dozens of plaintiffs throughout the country,” Shaheen said, adding that communities of all sizes from 1,000 to 1 million people are involved. “It’s been kind of a long process to make sure we fit the group, but ultimately we did.”

According to Shaheen, the check he presented Tuesday is part of a structured settlement with 3M. He expects to receive a similar check from that company in the next 90 days, and the two payments together will represent about 65% of what that company owes to the village. After that, 3M will have eight years to pay the balance of the settlement in equal installments.

A settlement with Dupont will be paid next, and he anticipates receiving that money in one or two installments no later than the first quarter of 2026. Settlement funds from Tyco and BASF will also be received less than a year from now, but they will be “much less,” he said.

Shaheen said there are no restrictions on how the money can be used, in part because $1 million would not be enough for the village to replace its water system.

He noted that information on contamination levels and on water usage were critical to Bridgeport’s success in the case. He credited Village Administrator Jesse Kosegi for gathering all of those key details. He also said the money will be a big help to the community.

“It’s a godsend,” Shaheen noted. “We can do a lot of good with it.

“The village has been diligently correcting other issues left by a prior administration that put us in fiscal emergency. I am optimistic that chapter will be closed in the very near future.”

Shaheen added that council and the administration made it possible for him to pursue participation in the case.

“I appreciate that the mayor and council allowed me to explore this,” he said. “Everyone was fully cooperative, and it really worked out well.”

How the money will be used remains to be determined, Shaheen said, but he cited some projects such as street paving and repair that are already “in the hopper” with grant funding being sought for their completion.

“We will set this money aside and very cautiously figure out where to place it,” he concluded.