Dupont transfers assets to avoid responsibility for contaminating groundwater with 'forever' chemicals

Attorney General Nick Brown today joined a bipartisan coalition of 16 attorneys general in a lawsuit against the chemical company historically known as DuPont (now called “EIDP”), its parent company, Corteva, and a newly-created entity called “Vylor,” to prevent attempts to escape financial responsibility for the companies’ role in PFAS contamination.

These three companies are maneuvering to put DuPont’s most valuable business assets into the newly-created Vylor and leave their massive liabilities behind, including their responsibility for contaminating the country’s drinking water and natural resources with PFAS — dangerous chemicals commonly known as “forever chemicals” because of how long they persist in the human body and the environment. The lawsuit alleges this scheme is an effort to artificially reduce DuPont’s assets so the company can escape responsibility for their decades of harm to the American people.

“DuPont has known that these chemicals were harmful for decades, and for just as long they have worked to escape responsibility for harming our environment and the public’s health with these chemicals,” said Brown. “We’re proud to join a bipartisan group of attorneys general to demand corporate accountability.”

Once PFAS are used, they migrate through the environment, resist natural degradation, contaminate groundwater and drinking water, and are difficult and costly to remove. Studies have linked PFAS exposure to cancer, infertility, thyroid disease, and childhood developmental harm.

DuPont made and sold products containing PFAS for decades despite knowing about the dangers of these chemicals to human health and the environment. DuPont’s own documents show they concealed these dangers from people who bought these products, the general public, and state regulators. A 1984 memo from DuPont noted that manufacturers knew that PFAS could cause birth defects.

The toxic and hazardous effects of PFAS will impact Washington for decades, if not longer. PFAS have been found in more than 800 water sources in Washington. More than 60% of Washingtonians rely on groundwater for at least a portion of their drinking water. Groundwater also serves essential ecological functions, influencing surface water quality, supporting wetlands and providing important instream flows for salmon and other fish species.

More information here