May 21 (Reuters) - German chemical company BASF

said on Tuesday it reached a $316.5 million

settlement with some U.S. public water systems that claimed

toxic "forever chemicals" in firefighting foam made by the

company contaminated their water supplies.

The money provided by the settlement, which must be approved

by a federal judge, will help cities, towns and other public

water systems remediate contamination of perfluoroalkyl and

polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

PFAS are a class of chemicals used in thousands of consumer

and commercial products, including firefighting foams, non-stick

pans and stain-resistant fabrics. They have been tied to cancers

and other diseases, and are often called forever chemicals

because they do not easily break down in nature or the human

body.

BASF said in a statement that the settlement does not

constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing, and that it

will seek to recover for the settlement through its numerous

insurance policies.

The company said it will pay about $4 million as part of the

settlement in July, and will pay another $312.5 million in

March.

BASF is among nearly two dozen chemical companies that have

faced lawsuits brought by water systems over PFAS pollution in

sprawling litigation that has been centralized in a South

Carolina federal court.

The lawsuits focus on PFAS that contaminated groundwater

after being sprayed in firefighting foams at fire houses and

airports across the U.S.

In 2023, those lawsuits led to more than $11 billion in

settlements between U.S. water systems and major chemical

companies including 3M ( MMM ), Chemours ( CC ), Corteva ( CTVA )

and DuPont de Nemours ( DD ). In April, Johnson

Controls ( JCI ) unit Tyco Fire Products agreed to a $750

million settlement.

BASF and roughly half a dozen other companies had been

tentatively scheduled to go to trial in early 2025.

"This significant agreement is in large part the result of

the pressure of upcoming trial cases," attorneys for the water

systems at the law firms Douglas & London, Napoli Shkolnik,

Baron & Budd and Motley Rice said in a joint statement on

Tuesday.

"It acknowledges the scope of the PFAS crisis, and the

financial depths required to address a problem of this

magnitude," they said.

Beyond the courtroom, PFAS have come under increased

regulatory scrutiny in the United States in recent years as

well.

In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set the

first national drinking water standards to protect people from

the chemicals, and designated a pair of the chemicals as

hazardous substances under the nation's Superfund program.