US Justice Department ends DuPont PFOA probe
15 October 2007 22:49 [Source: ICIS news]
HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The US Department of Justice has completed a review of the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) at DuPont’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia and will not pursue criminal charges, the company said on Monday.
DuPont said it was told by the department that it that it had completed its review “of information made available to us relevant to DuPont’s research into and use of [PFOA] and we will not be pursuing criminal charges at this time.”
DuPont was served with a grand jury subpoena on 17 May 2005 from the US District Court for the
The subpoena, which was served by the environmental crimes section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, called for production of documents related to PFOA and its salts, C-8, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, and FC-143. PFOA is used in the manufacture of Teflon non-stick coating.
The Justice Department’s “decision supports our position that DuPont acted responsibly in this matter”, said Stacey Mobley, DuPont senior vice president and general counsel.
The company said in December 2005 it would pay $16.5m (€11.7m) to dispose of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allegations that it failed to report health impact data on PFOA.
DuPont released a study in October 2006 that said there was no increased mortality risk among workers exposed to PFOA from 1948 through 2002 at its Washington Works plant.
However, DuPont agreed in November 2006 to provide residents near its Washington Works plant with clean water should PFOA reach 0.5 parts per billion (ppb) in the area’s drinking supplies.
DuPont plans to eliminate the use of PFOA by 2015.
By: Brian Ford
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