Dupont, Chemours to pay $670.7 M to settle dumping claims
Dupont and Chemours Co. agreed to pay $670.7 million to resolve a multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving about 3,550 lawsuits, according to the Delaware Law Weekly. Plaintiffs claimed they were sickened after consuming drinking water they allege was contaminated by DuPont’s former Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plant is now owned and operated by Chemours. The lawsuits, pending in an Ohio federal court, claimed the plant was dumping toxic chemical known as C8 into the Ohio River.
Dupont and Chemours will split the cash payments but are not admitting wrongdoing. Chemours is not named as a defendant in the case but was obligated to cover part of the cost based on a separation agreement the company signed in 2014 when it spun off of Dupont.
Veracity to develop next-generation network security for critical infrastructure
Veracity Industrial Networks, a developer of next-generation Operational Technology (OT) network cybersecurity for the industrial internet, is part of a three-company team tapped by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a secure networking solution that reduces cyberattacks against U.S. industrial and utility networks.
The team, which includes engineers from Veracity, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc. (SEL) and Sempra Renewables will focus on developing technology to reduce cyberattacks aimed at energy delivery systems.
Ongoing growth of bio-based polymers expected despite difficult market environment
Worldwide production capacity for bio-based polymers increased 4 percent to 6.6 Million tonnes from 2015 to 2016 – a share of 2 percent of the global polymer market, according to nova-Institute’s market study "Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities and Trends 2016 – 2021." The study offers the most comprehensive insight into the bio-based world market with latest data on capacities and applications for all relevant bio-based building blocks and polymers. The report shows real data for the year 2016 and a forecast for 2021. Get the full report at www.bio-based.eu/reports.
