DuPont to settle PFOA lawsuits for $670 million

DuPont will split the costs of settling thousands of lawsuits with Chemours, the company that split out of DuPont in 2015.

The chemical giant announced details of the settlement of more than 3,500 lawsuits on Monday morning. The personal injury lawsuits accused DuPont of damaging the health of thousands through the use of perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C8, at the company’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia.

DuPont and Chemours will each pay more than $335 million to settle the lawsuits, but neither company will admit any wrongdoing.

DuPont officials say the settlement of the multi-district litigation in Ohio includes all claims pending, including those for which jury verdicts have already been issued.

In January, a federal jury ruled that DuPont should pay an additional $10.5 million in punitive damages to an Ohio man who says he got testicular cancer because of a chemical used to make Teflon. The jury had previously ruled that DuPont owed the man $2 million in compensatory damages.

The company stopped using PFOA at the West Virginia facility more than 10 years ago.

Over the next five years, Chemours will pay $25 million to settle any additional liabilities from PFOA. DuPont will pay for the next $25 million in damages stemming from the use of PFOA.