Tyco Fire Products and parent company Johnson Controls have signed onto a $10 million settlement with the state of Wisconsin to address decades of PFAS contamination tied to their fire-training operations in Marinette, Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul announced on June 4, 2026. The deal commits Tyco to long-term drinking-water solutions and continued cleanup, while state agencies keep oversight of what happens next.
What the deal requires
Under the agreement, Tyco must put $10 million into Wisconsin’s PFAS Trust Fund, provide replacement deep drinking wells to affected properties within an agreed area for 20 years, and submit cleanup goals and monitoring plans for Department of Natural Resources approval, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor. The release notes that the DNR keeps the authority to approve or reject remediation plans, and that the settlement has been filed with a Brown County judge for court review before it can take effect.
How bad the contamination was
State records show Tyco and its predecessor Ansul used PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam for decades at a 380-acre Fire Technology Center in Marinette, according to the Wisconsin DNR. Reporting from Wisconsin Public Radio notes that groundwater samples at or near the site showed PFOA concentrations as high as 254,000 parts per trillion, and DNR mapping indicates 236 of 776 private wells tested exceed state groundwater advisory levels. Those readings sit far above federal and state standards and helped prompt the state’s enforcement action.
Tyco’s cleanup work and costs
Tyco says its long-running groundwater extraction and treatment system, or GETS, has treated roughly 450 million gallons of groundwater since 2022 and that it has installed or contracted deep wells for most nearby residents, according to the company’s Marinette project site. News reports and company statements say Tyco has spent more than $100 million on addressing contamination and providing safe water, and Johnson Controls securities filings describe ongoing remediation efforts along with other PFAS-related litigation and prior settlements tied to firefighting-foam claims.
Legal fallout and what’s next
The Wisconsin Department of Justice first sued Johnson Controls and Tyco in March 2022, alleging violations of the state’s hazardous-substance Spills Law and seeking penalties and cleanup, according to the DOJ complaint. The settlement only takes effect if the court signs off, and it does not close the door on other major PFAS lawsuits or the multidistrict litigation involving AFFF manufacturers that company filings and state reports say are still active.
Legal implications
Attorney General Josh Kaul has called the agreement one of the most significant environmental resolutions in state history and said the DNR and legislative processes will determine how the settlement dollars are used, according to reporting from Urban Milwaukee. Critics counter that the deal does not mandate health studies or expand the investigation area, leaving residents with lingering questions about long-term community impacts.
Local advocates have not been shy about their reactions. Marinette resident Doug Oitzinger of Save Our Water called the settlement “underwhelming,” saying $10 million is “a drop in the bucket” compared with the scale of contamination and long-term costs to the community, reporting shows. State and company officials say monitoring, replacement wells, and treatment will continue while the court and the DNR oversee what happens next.
