DuPont's PFOA (C8) Manufacturing: A Decades-Long Cover-Up
DuPont began using PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, also called "C8") in the 1950s at its Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, to make Teflon nonstick coatings. For over 50 years, the plant discharged PFOA into the Ohio River and released it into the air — contaminating the drinking water of approximately 100,000 people in six water districts in Ohio and West Virginia.
DuPont's internal documents — revealed in litigation beginning in the 2000s — show the company:
- Secretly found PFOA in the blood of Parkersburg residents as early as 1984 — and told no one
- Discovered PFOA caused testicular tumors in rats in 1981 — and continued using it
- Ran a secret "C8 Medical Surveillance Program" among its workers that found elevated health effects — and suppressed the results
- Identified PFOA in a nearby resident's drinking well in 1984, quietly offered to pay for a new well, and did not disclose the contamination publicly
- Had internal documents classifying PFOA as a "possible human carcinogen" while publicly claiming the chemical was safe
The DuPont PFOA story was documented by investigative journalist Nathaniel Rich in the New York Times Magazine ("The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare," 2016) and dramatized in the 2019 film "Dark Waters" starring Mark Ruffalo as attorney Robert Bilott.
The C8 Health Project: Establishing Disease Links
As part of settling the initial class action lawsuit brought by Parkersburg residents, DuPont agreed to fund the C8 Health Project — an independent epidemiological study of approximately 70,000 people exposed to PFOA through the Parkersburg water supply.
The C8 Science Panel, working from 2005 to 2012, analyzed health data and found "probable links" between PFOA exposure and six diseases:
- Kidney cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Thyroid disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- High cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)
- Pregnancy-induced hypertension (preeclampsia)
Any member of the C8 Health Study who had one of these six diseases was entitled to file an individual personal injury lawsuit against DuPont — leading to the 3,550+ cases that were settled for $671 million in 2017.
The $671 Million DuPont C8 Personal Injury Settlement (2017)
In February 2017, DuPont (now operating as DowDuPont following its merger with Dow Chemical) settled with approximately 3,550 individual plaintiffs with C8 Science Panel-confirmed disease links for a total of $671 million.
- Average settlement: approximately $190,000 per claimant
- Cancer cases (kidney, testicular) received higher amounts
- Non-cancer disease cases (cholesterol, thyroid disease) received lower amounts
- Covered only plaintiffs who participated in the C8 Health Study and had a probable-link disease
This settlement was a landmark — the first major PFAS personal injury resolution — and established the precedent and settlement value framework for ongoing PFAS litigation.
Chemours: DuPont's PFAS Liability Spinoff
In 2015, DuPont spun off its performance chemicals division — including its PFAS operations — into a new public company called Chemours. Critics and plaintiff attorneys alleged this spinoff was structured to separate DuPont's "legacy" PFAS liability from its core business while the new Chemours entity (with fewer assets) bore the legal exposure.
Courts and regulators have scrutinized the Chemours spinoff, and DuPont has been held to continuing obligations. A complex liability-sharing agreement between DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva (another DuPont spinoff) governs how PFAS liabilities are allocated among these companies.
GenX Contamination: The Sequel
After PFOA was phased out under a 2006 EPA stewardship agreement, Chemours began using "GenX chemicals" (HFPO-DA) as a replacement PFAS at its Fayetteville Works plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Chemours discharged GenX into the Cape Fear River, the drinking water source for approximately 350,000 people in the Wilmington, NC area. When researchers at UNC-Wilmington discovered GenX in the drinking water in 2017, it sparked a public health crisis. Testing revealed GenX not only in tap water but in rainwater, fish tissue, soil, and groundwater across a wide area.
GenX is structurally similar to PFOA and exhibits similar environmental persistence. Whether it is truly "safer" than PFOA is scientifically contested. North Carolina residents have filed numerous lawsuits against Chemours, and the state reached a settlement requiring Chemours to fund water filtration systems for affected utilities.
DuPont/Chemours/Corteva Water Utility Settlement (2023)
In June 2023, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached a $1.185 billion settlement with U.S. public water utilities for PFAS contamination costs — running parallel to the 3M settlement. This settlement:
- Covers water treatment infrastructure costs for utilities with PFAS contamination
- Does NOT cover individual personal injury claims
- Payments are shared among the three companies according to their liability-sharing agreement
Ongoing Personal Injury Litigation Against DuPont and Chemours
Individual personal injury claims against DuPont and Chemours for PFOA and GenX exposure continue. These claims are outside the water utility settlement and include:
- Claims by Parkersburg, WV area residents who did not participate in the original C8 Health Study or who have newly diagnosed conditions
- Claims by Cape Fear River communities exposed to GenX
- Claims by workers at DuPont and Chemours facilities with occupational PFAS exposure