DuPont Reaches Class-Action Settlement

DuPont has reached a tentative settlement in a three-year-old class-action lawsuit that could cost the company $343 million for exposing Ohio and West Virginia communities to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8 (see

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Vol. 13, No. 3). In the agreement, DuPont will pay $108 million, including $23 million to cover legal fees of the Parksburg-area residents, $10 million for new water-treatment systems at six facilities to reduce the levels of C8 in drinking water, and $5 million to study the health effects of exposure to C8, which is used to make Teflon

^® and other products. If that study finds a link between C8 and health problems, DuPont could be liable for up to $235 million to cover the ongoing monitoring of the health of a half-million people who live near DuPont’s Washington Works facility in Washington, West Virginia. “We want to make very clear that settling this lawsuit in no way implies any admission of liability on DuPont’s part,” according to Stacey Mobley, DuPont general counsel. This settlement will not affect a case against DuPont filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which could cost the company an additional $300 million (see

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Vol. 13, No. 8).