NEW YORK — DuPont has agreed to pay $85 million to residents in West Virginia and Ohio who sued the chemical maker over water contamination from a Teflon plant.
Under the proposed settlement, the number two U.S. chemicals maker will pay $85 million to communities in the area of the company's Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, WV, which produced Teflon, the widely used non-stick coating for cookware. Teflon is also used commonly as a fire retardant in connectors, adapters, cables, and gaskets (see "Editor's View," Connector Specifier, June 2003). Attorneys' fees and expenses totaled an additional $22.6 million. As part of the settlement, DuPont has agreed to an initial cash payment of $70 million, $20 million of which will be used for health and education projects. The proposed settlement helps the litigants avoid a trial scheduled for October.
The plant released a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), otherwise known as C-8, used to manufacture Teflon, into the water supply, posing a potential health hazard to humans, according to government regulators and environmental groups. The chemical contaminated six water districts near the plant, prompting 50,000 residents to join the class-action suit against DuPont.
Under the proposal, DuPont will provide six area water districts—Little Hocking, Lubeck, Belpre, Tuppers Plains, Mason County, and Pomeroy—a state-of-the-art water treatment system designed to reduce the level of C-8 in the water supply to the lowest practicable levels as specified by the water districts. The company will offer the same technology to residents with a private well. The company estimates the cost for water treatment at $10 million. In addition, DuPont agreed to help plaintiffs chose a panel of experts to conduct a $5 million study on whether a definite link exists between C-8 and human diseases, such as birth defects, to be funded by DuPont. If they find a probable link, DuPont will fund medical monitoring for up to $235 million.
The settlement is awaiting final approval from the court and plaintiffs, expected by December. DuPont also faces as much as $300 million in fines from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over charges that it withheld information about PFOA three times in 20 years. The EPA says PFOA may pose "substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment." The fines, announced in July, are separate and not affected by the settlement.
