News Coverage
US Environmental Agency has not ruled out more charges against Dupont
Published November 18, 2004
The US Environmental Protection Agency has not ruled out the possibility of additional charges against DuPont Co for failing to report possible health and environmental risks related to a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the Wall Street Journal reported.
An advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., has petitioned the agency to investigate whether DuPont should have acted after a company study last summer showed that people living near its West Virginia Teflon plant had levels of a chemical known as PFOA in their blood at levels 12 times higher than those measured among the general population.
"The agency continues to receive and review information and we have not foreclosed any possibilities, including that of additional claims," the EPA was quoted by the newspaper's online edition as saying in response to the petition filed by the Environmental Working Group.
The controversy over PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, has emerged as one of the most pressing environmental problems facing DuPont, with company locked in a legal battle with the EPA over its failure to disclose health risks from studies dating back to the 1980s. Teflon is used in everything from cookware to clothing.
The newspaper quoted Stacey Mobley, senior vice president and general counsel of DuPont, as saying the company is cooperating fully with the EPA and providing all appropriate information to the agency about PFOA, "whether required by a statute or not."