Chemical and consumer product manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay $6 billion to settle lawsuits from U.S. service members who say they experienced hearing loss or other serious injuries after using faulty earplugs made by the company.

3M has fired prominent executive Michael Vale due to “inappropriate personal conduct and violation of company policy,” the company announced on Monday.

Nearly 50 businesses and nonprofits including rideshare companies Uber and Lyft and industrial giant 3M are pledging millions of dollars in initiatives to stem a crisis in road fatalities under a new federal effort.

Chemical and consumer products maker 3M will phase out the manufacturing of so-called “forever chemicals” and try to get them out of all their products within two years.

A lawsuit filed by the state of California accuses 3M, Dupont and 16 smaller companies of covering up the harm caused to the environment and the public from chemicals that have over decades found their way into waterways and human bloodstreams.

The Navajo Nation has issued a stay-at-home order for the weekend after reporting 26 more confirmed COVID-19 cases.

They have no utility whatsoever,” Homeland Security Secretary Ali Mayorkas said of the fake masks. Homeland Security officials would not say which states the phony masks were sent to, but said criminal charges would be forthcoming. The company delivered some 2 billion N95 masks in 2020 as the pandemic intensified, but in the earlier months, when masks were in short supply, fraudsters took advantage. But phony masks have already made it to front-line workers in other cases. Over the past year there has been more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement resulting in the seizure of millions of fake masks.

This December 2020 image provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows a counterfeit N95 surgical mask that was seized by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Federal investigators are probing a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities, and government agencies and expect the number to rise significantly in coming weeks. (ICE via AP)WASHINGTON – Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. Nearly a year into the pandemic, fraud remains a major problem as scammers seek to exploit hospitals and desperate and weary Americans. There have been already more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement that resulted in the seizure of 10 million counterfeit 3M masks alone.