3M to halt production of some chemicals at Decatur plant

The 3M plant in Decatur said Thursday it is halting some manufacturing processes. This announcement comes months after the company said it would stop the manufacturing of some perfluorinated chemicals amid a federal investigation. 3M said it told employees, state and federal regulators about the recent manufacturing change this week. However, it's not clear what manufacturing processes are being put on hold. "The people in Decatur and downstream in West Morgan and East Lawrence deserve better answers. There is not value to the word temporarily. Does that mean three hours or three years? They are not even telling us what the manufacturing processes are," says Tennessee Riverkeeper Founder David Whiteside. “3M takes seriously its environmental compliance obligations and continuously assesses its performance against those obligations and the Company’s commitment to environmental stewardship. While we continue to work with the EPA and ADEM on previously disclosed issues, we have elected to temporarily idle certain manufacturing processes. We will resume these processes as soon as practicable.”