MADISON – Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Gillett) released the following statement after the State of Wisconsin reached a civil settlement with Tyco Fire Products, which will provide $10 million to the PFAS Trust Fund to assist with PFAS contamination relief efforts across Wisconsin under laws he authored, as well as require Tyco to further its pollution cleanup and monitoring efforts and provide affected residents with clean drinking water:
“Municipalities like Marinette and Peshtigo have waited far too long for this day to come. Now, the work begins to turn this settlement into relief for pollution victims.
I’m proud to have authored the creation of the PFAS Trust Fund in the 2023-25 State Budget, which requires the state to reinvest any funds from PFAS legal settlements into this Fund to help victims remove these pollutants from our land and water. Now, every single dollar from the Tyco settlement will go into the PFAS Trust Fund and be used to support affected victims and communities.”
Senator Wimberger’s work during the 2023-25 budget led to the creation of the PFAS Trust Fund, as well as a statutory requirement that any future PFAS settlement funds accepted by the State of Wisconsin be reappropriated into the Trust Fund’s efforts to address PFAS pollution statewide.
In April, Senator Wimberger’s historic PFAS relief bills were signed into law. These include 2025 Wisconsin Act 201, which establishes new grant programs to assist communities affected by PFAS and helps landowners test, treat, and dispose of contamination by expanding testing capabilities and initiating new research projects. 2025 Wisconsin Act 200 funds these programs and initiatives with an initial $133 million from the PFAS Trust Fund.
The Tyco settlement funds will be used as additional financial support for communities and victims looking to test for, identify, and remove pollutants like PFAS from their land and water. Tyco will also be required to address and continually monitor PFAS discharges in the area, as well as provide clean drinking water and replacement well for affected residents. Even more help is on the way – not only to Northeast Wisconsin communities like Marinette and Peshtigo, but to French Island and Stella and others suffering from high levels of PFAS.
