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DuPont probed on C-8 disclosureAction comes at behest of shareholders skeptical of whether investors were told of Teflon risksBy JEFF MONTGOMERY / The News Journal05/25/2005A DuPont Co. shareholders group has asked the SEC to determine if company management failed to supply investors with full details about problems with C-8, a compound used to make Teflon and thousands of other nonstick products and industrial goods. DuPont Shareholders for Fair Value said it also wants regulators to order disclosures of information on liabilities at plants that use C-8, also called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and possible threats to markets for products containing the material. The Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department have opened both civil and criminal enforcement probes targeting DuPont's handling of information about C-8 and its possible health effects. DuPont also agreed to pay $108 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in West Virginia filed on behalf of residents whose drinking water was contaminated with the chemical. "DuPont has an obligation to provide investors with full and honest disclosure about the liabilities associated with PFOA," said Sanford Lewis, an attorney and spokesman for the shareholders group. "We believe the aggregate effect of withholding the cluster of issues known to management has had the effect of blindsiding investors to liability and market risks associated with PFOA, in a manner that securities law is intended to prevent," Lewis said in the letter to the SEC. The shareholder coalition holds more than 28,700 shares of DuPont stock, and includes company labor unions, an investor group in Boston and the Sisters of Mercy Merion Regional Community in Pennsylvania. "DuPont has complied with the appropriate SEC requirements regarding PFOA and has continued to provide additional information to the public through our Web site and frequent interactions with the news media," DuPont spokes- man R. Clifton Webb said. John Heine, SEC deputy public affairs director, would not comment on specifics of the shareholders group's request. "We get information from all sorts of sources, including information from investors and others in the market," Heine said. "We take that information very seriously." The EPA released a preliminary risk assessment for C-8 in 2003, prompted by concerns that the compound lingers in the environment and the human body. Researchers reported finding the chemical in human blood at low levels across the country and around the world. Some reports describe possible links to developmental disorders, cancer or other toxic effects. Federal officials have been working with industry groups on research efforts and enforceable agreements targeting the chemical and its fate in the environment. An agreement with DuPont is pending. In the letter to the SEC, Lewis said DuPont also denied problems with the fungicide Benlate in its market disclosures. Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277
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For further information on DuPont Shareholders for Fair Value contact Sanford Lewis |