Bonta accuses DuPont of 'corporate shell game' to dodge PFAS cleanup in California

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a ailment Thursday alleging that a cohort of the companies that marque “forever chemicals” partook successful a monolithic firm ammunition crippled to defraud the authorities and others.

In an amendment to a 2022 suit filed by Bonta against the makers of these chemicals, the authorities present alleges that respective DuPont spin-off companies — New DuPont, Corteva, Chemours and Qnity Electronics — worked unneurotic to make a “fall guy” institution designed to instrumentality the fiscal deed stemming from respective multibillion-dollar contamination lawsuits portion keeping the companies’ astir invaluable assets retired of reach.

“The DuPont Defendants cannot crippled the strategy by illegally moving assets retired of reach, dodging liabilities for the harm they person caused, and calling it restructuring,” Bonta said successful a statement. “I look guardant to ensuring that these companies are held accountable for PFAS contamination and that their assets cannot beryllium hidden down firm walls portion their responsibilities are near behind.”

The Second Amended Complaint, arsenic the caller amendment is called, was filed successful the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina connected Thursday.

DuPont did not instantly respond to a petition for a comment.

In 2022, Bonta sued 20 chemic manufacturers, including 3M and DuPont, alleging the companies knew astir the dangers of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — oregon PFAS — erstwhile they made and/or sold products containing them. The suit besides claims the companies failed to pass the nationalist astir the biology and wellness risks of those chemicals and successful galore cases concealed the risks.

That suit remains progressive and ongoing.

PFAS chemicals are recovered successful a assortment of user items including nutrient packaging and cookware and are linked to crab and different illnesses and wellness risks, including developmental defects, infertility and reduced bony density successful children.

They are resistant to biology degradation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and hundreds of technological studies. They person besides been recovered successful the bloodstreams of 98% of radical tested, arsenic good arsenic successful wildlife, fish, h2o — including rivers, lakes and nearshore waters — and soil.

Data from the State Water Resources Control Board amusement PFAS chemicals are successful drinking, crushed and aboveground waters successful the state. They’ve been detected successful astatine slightest 146 nationalist h2o systems serving 16 cardinal Californians, arsenic good arsenic successful aquifers that supply millions of Californians with h2o done unregulated home wells.

According to a property merchandise from Bonta’s office, the fraudulent DuPont strategy worked similar this: By 2013, the original, “Old” DuPont institution knew it faced billions of dollars successful biology cleanable up costs and ineligible damages owed to its PFAS products. To support its assets and marque itself appealing for a merger with manufacture elephantine Dow Chemical, the Old Dupont institution initiated a multi-phase restructuring plan, which it called “Project Beta.”

Bonta referred to the archetypal DuPont institution arsenic “Old Dupont” and a newer mentation arsenic “New DuPont” successful his filing.

It started with the instauration of a institution called Chemours, which the Old DuPont institution spun-off successful 2015. The Old DuPont institution transferred its PFAS concern to this caller institution and extracted astir $7 cardinal successful cash, stocks and notes from the caller company. The caller institution was besides forced to presume each of Old DuPont’s humanities PFAS liabilities and motion an statement to indemnify Old DuPont against them.

Bonta claims this was a sham transaction, leaving Chemours holding the liability container with nary mode to wage the biology debts it would incur should the courts travel calling.

Old DuPont merged with Dow Chemical successful 2015, and according to Bonta’s claim, the caller company, DowDuPont, was again structured successful a mode that would support the caller institution from immoderate remaining PFAS liabilities.

In 2019, the institution went done different reshuffling. A “New” Dow was created, which took the materials subject assets, arsenic good arsenic a institution called Corteva, which took the company’s cultivation businesses. A New DuPont institution was besides formed.

During this aforesaid year, Chemours sued the different DuPont companies, claiming it had been handed a fiscal clip weaponry due to the fact that of the PFAS liability it had been near with. The institution alleged the 2015 woody was a sham that acceptable them up for bankruptcy.

In 2021, the companies sat down to resoluteness the lawsuit. Chemours agreed to driblet the suit and waive its close to sue. In exchange, Corteva and New DuPont agreed to divided the costs of aboriginal PFAS liabilities with Chemours 50/50 — but lone up to $4 billion.

Bonta alleges that $4 cardinal was a gross underestimate of the imaginable ineligible damages they were apt to face. The effect of the statement would person capped Corteva and New DuPont’s liability to $2 cardinal and saddled Chemours with immoderate and everything other — a fig helium claims is apt to acold transcend $2 billion.

Chemours besides had security policies that would person helped wage for the PFAS lawsuits. However, Bonta alleges that Chemours sold 100% of those security payouts backmost to its sister companies successful 2025 for a lump sum of currency that was worthy little than fractional of what the security was really valued at.

By transferring distant its champion assets (the insurance) portion keeping the monolithic debt, Chemours was hollowed retired truthful it can’t wage its imaginable creditors, which includes the authorities of California.

To further support their wealth, New DuPont is accused of continuing to chop up its remaining invaluable businesses and separating them. For example, the tribunal filing claims they took their profitable electronics concern and turned it into a wholly separate, autarkic institution called Qnity.

Bonta claims these restructuring moves interruption the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act and the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. He is asking the tribunal to halt the companies from selling, spending, oregon moving immoderate much assets oregon profits that belonged to the original, oregon Old DuPont institution successful bid to insure that California gets its payout if the chemic companies suffer the lawsuit.