DuPont, Chemours, Corteva to pay $875 million over 25 years to settle New Jersey claims

Settlement payments will total $875 million over a 25-year period beginning within 30 days of the Judicial Consent Order entry date, which will be no earlier than January 1, 2026.

Of the total settlement amount, $16.5 million is attributed to alleged PFAS contamination unrelated to the companies’ operating sites. 

Consistent with the January 2021 Memorandum of Understanding between the parties, Chemours will be responsible for 50% of settlement payments, or approximately $250 million on a present value basis, DuPont will be responsible for 35.5% of settlement payments, or approximately $177 million on a present value basis, and Corteva will be responsible for the remaining 14.5% of settlement payments, or approximately $72 million.

The settlement also establishes a process for determining the amount of the Remediation Funding Source  at the four current and former operating sites and the initial range for each, as well as other mechanisms to secure future remediation at the sites.

The terms of the settlement are set forth in a proposed Judicial Consent Order (JCO), which remains subject to notice and comment under New Jersey law, as well as final court approval.

Chemours, based in Wilmington, was spun out of DuPont a decade ago. Corteva, headquartered in Indianapolis  is an agriscience company that was spun out of the temporary merger of Dow and DuPont with the company assuming ag operations of the two companies. DuPont de Nemours, based near Wilmington, was spun out of the Dow-DuPont merger.

When Chemours was spun off from DuPont, there was speculation on Wall Street that the deal was an attempt by DuPont to offload its environmental liabilities.

The companies settled with Delaware over PFA and other claims for $50 million with a trigger that gives the state additional funds if other states settle for more than that amount.