DuPont settles with EPA over Teflon allegations

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 14 Dec 2005 20:54

Chemical maker DuPont today announced it has reached a settlement agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency in the amount of $10.25 million in fines and $6.25 million for environmental projects, to settle allegations in an enforcement action related to the toxic chemical compound perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used to make Teflon.

The EPA had alleged that DuPont withheld information since the 1980s about the health effects of PFOA, and about the pollution of water supplies near its Parkersburg, WV-based plant. According to the EPA, the company also failed to report that PFOA had been detected in at least one pregnant worker at the plant, and that it had been passed on to her child.

The agreement resolves four counts of reporting violations under the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act that were filed in 2004. Four additional counts, raised by the agency in 2005, also were resolved. The settlement closes this matter for DuPont, without any admission of liability from the company.

“Our interpretation of the reporting requirements differed from the agency's. The settlement allows us to put this matter behind us and move forward,” said DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Stacey Mobley. “We have already cut PFOA emissions from U.S. plant sites by 98 percent, and we are committed to reducing those emissions by 99 percent by 2007.”

The environmental projects DuPont will fund include a research program to evaluate the potential for fluorotelomer biodegradation, and microchemistry and green chemistry programs in certain West Virginia schools. The EPA will continue its risk assessment process for PFOA to determine if there are any issues that require a regulatory response.

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