Attorney General Dan Rayfield today took action to block DuPont from shuffling money around to avoid accountability for the massive cleanup costs from PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have contaminated water and soil across the country.
In a bipartisan lawsuit filed today, AG Rayfield and other attorneys general argue that DuPont (now legally known as “EIDP”) and its parent company, Corteva, have moved significant corporate assets into a brand-new company called Vylor, which would leave DuPont with few resources to pay for the contamination its chemicals have caused. The lawsuit asks the court to freeze the assets in place.
“DuPont’s forever chemicals are in our groundwater, our drinking water, and our soil,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “And now this corporation is using a shell game to avoid accountability for the massive harm they’ve caused. We’re not letting them leave our communities high and dry.”
In May 2023, Oregon sued DuPont, Corteva, and other companies over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam used for training and emergencies at military bases, airports, industrial sites, and other locations around the state. Many other states have filed similar lawsuits. The states allege DuPont knew or should have known PFAS would harm the environment and people’s health and would cost enormous amounts to remove from groundwater and drinking water.
While those lawsuits were still pending, DuPont and Corteva handed off their lucrative Pioneer seeds business, a major corn and soybean operation, to Vylor. That move shifted roughly three-quarters of the value that had been available to pay the states and DuPont’s other creditors over to the new company. The states argue the deal was designed to make it harder to collect what DuPont owes and to avoid paying for the contamination it caused.
The coalition is asking a court in Marion County, Indiana, for a temporary restraining order to freeze the assets. If granted, the order would block DuPont and Corteva from spending their remaining money on shareholder dividends and stock buybacks and stop Vylor from selling or borrowing against the seeds business it just received.
PFAS chemicals don’t break down easily. They build up in drinking water, groundwater, and soil, and they’re expensive to remove. Studies have linked PFAS exposure to cancer, infertility, thyroid disease, and developmental harm in children. CDC testing has found PFAS in the blood of nearly everyone tested since 1999. Removing PFAS from drinking water, cleaning up contaminated sites, and compensating the public is expected to cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars nationwide.
Attorney General Rayfield filed this lawsuit alongside the attorneys general of Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and the Government of Guam.
