Washington, D.C., December 14--Dupont, according to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement, has agreed to pay a $16.5 million settlement for failing to report health risks associated with the manufacture of Teflon and other plastics.
The EPA said that Dupont withheld information about risks assoicated with perflourooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is used in processing plastics at the firm's Parkersburg, West Virginia plant. According to the agency, the acid contaminated the local water supply, and although Dupont knew about it as early as 1981, the company did not report it--as required by law.
