The U.S. judge overseeing thousands of lawsuits over toxic “forever chemicals” on Tuesday warned that any water utility that opts out of proposed settlements with 3M (MMM.N), DuPont de Nemours (DD.N) and others may have to wait a decade to resolve their individual cases. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in Charleston, South Carolina, issued the warning as water utilities are reviewing two proposed settlements worth a combined nearly $11.5 billion that would help pay to clean up drinking water polluted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Those settlements could be derailed if too many water utilities opt out. … A handful of cities and water districts have filed to opt out of the settlements, while more than 22 local governments and agencies in New York, Texas, Colorado, California and elsewhere had called the deals inadequate.