For
Immediate Release
February 6, 2007
Contact: Joseph Drexler – 615-594-2075
Steelworkers Say DuPont Announcement on PFOA Raises Questions: Union Calls for Transparency and Independent Oversight
The United Steelworkers Union (USW) made the following statement today in response to DuPont’s (NYSE: DD) announcement that it would stop the manufacture of perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA and other associated chemicals by 2015.
The USW has been a major organization in calling the public’s attention to DuPont’s use of PFOA as part of its DuPont Accountability Project, and has brought PFOA contamination of public water supplies to the forefront in Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina, Mississippi and Virginia.
DuPont’s announcement appears to be designed to take the heat off the chemical giant and allow it to manufacture and use PFOA for eight more years while contaminating the environment with a biopersistent chemical that has been labeled a likely human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board.
There is little trust of DuPont given its long record of environmental pollution, abuse of employees and its failure to "come clean" over PFOA. If DuPont expects various groups who have been monitoring PFOA pollution to believe that the announcement is more than DuPont’s latest stab at “greenwashing,” then DuPont should accept major responsibility for the wide-ranging presence of PFOA in human and animal blood, double its efforts to find a safe substitute for PFOA, phase it out much earlier than 2015, eliminate production of products that can break down to PFOA, and allow third party oversight of its efforts.
The USW has tried repeatedly to engage DuPont in a dialogue over PFOA and other issues, but has been rebuffed each time. The primary concern of the USW has been the health and safety of workers who come in daily contact with these chemicals as well as residents in local communities who have suffered from DuPont’s pollution.
DuPont can continue to have its head in the sand and issue more statements aimed at diffusing public concern. However, until the company begins to communicate honestly with its unions, local communities, environmental organizations and shareholders and show more transparency about PFOA, conflicts over this issue and lack of trust will persist.
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