BELMONT, MI — Wolverine World Wide has agreed to pay $69.5 million toward new municipal water mains and filtration in northern Kent County where the groundwater is contaminated by toxic fluorochemicals that were in the company’s leather manufacturing waste.

The agreement tentatively settles a lawsuit between the global footwear company and state and local governments, which have spent the past two years debating a permanent clean water solution for around 1,500 homes with toxic PFAS chemicals in their drinking water.

It paves the way for construction to begin in 2020 on new pipes to bring safe water to neighborhoods like House Street, Chandler Drive and Wellington Ridge, where private wells are contaminated by extremely high PFAS levels in the groundwater.

The deal was announced in coordinated press releases by Wolverine, the state of Michigan and Plainfield Township on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The final binding agreement requires approval by U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff.

“Reaching a tentative agreement with Wolverine is an important step that moves us closer to our ultimate goal of ensuring that every Michigan resident has access to clean, safe drinking water,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessell in a statement.

Neither party would give interviews.

The deal will also fund some advanced filtration for the chemicals at the Plainfield Township water plant, which installed granular activated carbon in 2018 to bring PFAS in its municipal supply down to trace levels which state regulators consider safe.

Extension of Plainfield’s water system is expected to take at least five years to reach about 1,000 homes affected by the contamination, but the new water mains won’t reach every household in the 25-square-mile area contaminated by Wolverine’s PFAS waste dumping.

Some homes will continue to rely on whole-house filtration systems that were installed by Wolverine in 2017 shortly after the pollution was discovered. The company will maintain water filters where the level of PFOA and PFOS is over 10 parts per trillion (ppt), the township said.

Homes connecting to the Plainfield system would incur monthly water bills but would not otherwise bear the cost of connecting to the new mains. Affected homeowners will be obligated to connect.

Neighborhoods with the highest levels of contamination would be prioritized first, the township said, but some homes with little to no contamination may be connected before others based on logistics. Plainfield Township released a map showing which parcels would ultimately be connected.

The news is a relief for Tom and Terry Hula, whose home on House Street abuts Wolverine’s House Street dump, where the company dumped tannery waste in the 1960s.

The Hulas have been rationing water from weekly deliveries after their well failed last year. They cannot replace it because the county has a ban on new well drilling in the plume area.

Plainfield officials say House Street would be among the first neighborhoods to get connected to the township water system.

Terry Hula said she cried with relief at learning the news Tuesday.

“I feel like there’s a glimmer of hope for some normalcy back in our lives,” she said. “Every day is stressful. I look forward to not having to think about water use every day.”

The deal was reached without the case going before a scheduled “summary jury trail,” which would have empaneled a jury for a secret, non-binding verdict. A regular trial would have followed if a settlement wasn’t reached.

Wolverine has clashed with state and townships officials over the long-term remedy for delivering safe water to affected neighborhoods. The company argued that its whole house filters were an adequate long-term solution. Officials disagreed.

Wolverine angered township officials last winter by announcing it wouldn’t pay for new water mains unless 3M -- which made the PFAS-laden Scotchgard that Wolverine used in leather-making -- contributed to the project cost. At the time, township officials cast the announcement as an about-face after a year’s worth of negotiations.

In a joint statement, Plainfield superintendent Cameron Van Wyngarden and Algoma supervisor Kevin Green said the townships appreciate "being able to reach a solution without having to go to trial, which will save taxpayers the time, and the uncertainties and expense of litigation.”

In a four-minute audio clip released Tuesday, Wolverine CEO Blake Krueger said the settlement reflects a commitment to the company motto: “do the right thing, always.”

“I’m proud of the way our company has responded to this issue over the past couple of years," Krueger said. "I believe we set an extremely high standard for many other companies and government agencies dealing with similar issues across the country.”

In a nod toward the hundreds of civil cases filed against Wolverine by residents who say the contamination has harmed their health and property values, Krueger said the company expects the water main deal to "improve our legal position in other pending cases.”

Wolverine has also sued 3M and several of its insurance companies, which it says has not honored insurance policies. In its press release, Wolverine took aim at its court opponents.

“These plaintiffs and their attorneys played no role in developing the municipal water solution or other actions announced today, but they will benefit from them,” the company said. "As result, Wolverine believes its actions will have a significant impact on, and potentially lead to the resolution of, these lawsuits.”

Aaron Phelps, an attorney at Varnum Law in Grand Rapids who represents the Hulas and hundreds of other plaintiffs suing Wolverine in state circuit court, said the firm called on Wolverine to extend water mains two years ago.

“In the interim, residents have endured with bottled water deliveries, filter testing, installation and maintenance and declines in property values,” Phelps said. “While we are happy our litigation has finally resulted in actions by Wolverine, it is unfortunate that it took so long. Even now, actual water hookups will likely be years down the road.”

Michigan regulators first discovered PFAS in potable drinking water near Wolverine’s old House Street dump in Belmont in April 2017. The contamination was traced to sludge waste from Wolverine’s old leather tannery in Rockford, which began using 3M Scotchgard in 1958.

Wolverine’s PFAS use was uncovered by local activists who gave state regulators evidence that the chemicals were dumped in a landfill surrounded by homes using private water wells.

The discovery helped launch a statewide response to PFAS that has found the chemicals in the groundwater at more than 70 sites in Michigan and in public supply water serving about 1.9 million.

Exposure to the per- and poly-fluorinated compounds have been linked to certain cancer, thyroid disease and other chronic health problems.

Wolverine reported $2.24 billion in revenue in 2018, according to its annual report.