DuPont

Company Snapshot:

DuPont is the third-largest chemical maker in the U.S., behind only Dow and Exxon Mobil Chemicals. In addition to chemicals, Dupont produces genetically modified seeds, coatings, electronics and security devices. DuPont's revenues totalled over $26.6 billion in 2005.

Basic information

Ownership status:

Publicly traded

Number of employees worldwide:

60,000

Chief executive officer:

Charles O. Holliday Jr.

Website:

http://www.dupont.com

Tel:

302-774-1000

Corporate accountability

Brief company history:

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company was founded in July 1802 as a gun powder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont on Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, USA. DuPont is currently the world's second largest chemical company (behind BASF) in terms of market capitalization and fourth (behind BASF, Dow Chemical and Ineos) in revenue. Its stock price is also a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In the twentieth century, DuPont led the polymer revolution by developing many highly successful materials such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek and Lycra. DuPont has also been significantly involved in the refrigerant industry, developing and producing the Freon (CFCs) series and later, more environmentally friendly refrigerants. In the paint and pigment industry, it has created synthetic pigments and paints, such as ChromaFlair.

DuPont is often successful in popularizing the brands of its material products such that their trademark names become more commonly used than the generic or chemical words for the material itself. One example is “neoprene”, which was intended originally to be a trademark but quickly came into common usage. Wikipedia 10/30/2007

Corporate accountability:

At the 2006 shareholder meeting, the Amalgamated Bank of New York is calling on DuPont to "issue a report on PFOA compounds used in DuPont products by the 2007 annual meeting, at reasonable cost and excluding confidential information, evaluating the feasibility of an expeditious phase-out of the use of PFOA in the production of all DuPont products including materials that may degrade to PFOA in use or in the environment, and the development and adoption of safer substitutes." [Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, 05/01/2006]

The New York City Employees Retirement System (NYC Pension Funds), that holds all of these companies in its portfolio, has filed a resolution with each company asking for the development of a code of conduct that is based on the International Labor Organization's core labor standards and the UN's Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations with Regards to Human Rights. ILO conventions include the right to form and join a union, a prohibition on discrimination and intimidation, and prohibition against forced labor, child labor, and prison labor. [Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, 01/01/2006]

Five New York City pension funds filed shareholder proposals with 13 companies requesting the adoption of workplace human rights policies. According to the New York Comptroller's office, these policies are to include "banning child labor; allowing all workers to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; prohibiting discrimination of worker representatives; barring discrimination or intimidation in employment; and, not using forced labor, including bonded or prison labor." Among others, proposals were filed with Kimberly Clark of Dallas, TX, in which the systems own 1.6 million shares worth $109 million; Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. of Union, NJ, in which the systems own more than 1 million shares worth $40.9 million; E.I. du Pont De Nemours and Company of Wilmington, DE, in which the systems own 3.2 million shares worth $163.9 million. [New York City Comptroller Office, 02/24/2005]

n 2005, Charles O. Holliday made $8.07 billion in total compensation including stock option grants from DuPont. From years past, DuPont’s CEO cashed out $92,990 in stock option grants. Holliday received another $2.2 billion in unexercised stock options from previous years. AFL-CIO, 04/05/2006

Environment and product safety:

DuPont was rated as the number one worst polluter on the Political Economy Research Institute's Toxic 100 index. The index is based on 2002 EPA Toxics Release Inventory data. PERI's Toxic 100 index ranks the nation's largest companies based on the quantity of their emissions, relative toxicity of chemicals emitted, and proximity to population centers, among other criteria.

Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), 05/11/2006

Dupont was fined $10.25 million dollars and agreed to pay an additional $6.25 million for environmental projects to settle charges that it concealed information on the toxicity of a particular chemical used in its signature Teflon coating. The EPA argued that for 20 years Dupont deliberately covered up facts about the serious environmental and health dangers of the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also called C-8, which contaminated water supplies near its plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. PFOA has been identified as a likely human carcinogen. Washington Post, 12/14/2005

Studies have shown that DuPont's Teflon non-stick coating releases toxic and potentially deadly gases as the particles breakdown under intense heat during cooking. Toxic offgases are produced at as low as 446°F, and at 680°F Teflon coating emits six toxic compounds including two cancer-causing agents, two global pollutants, and MFA which at low doses can be lethal to humans. Temperatures of 1000°F (which can be reached by stovetop pans) will cause Teflon and other non-stick coatings to break down to a chemical warfare agent called PFIB. DuPont has stated that non-stick coating can suffer serious decomposition at temperatures above 660°F, which the company claims is far above average cooking temperatures. The Environmental Working Group conducted tests that showed Teflon coated pans reaching 721°F within five minutes of sitting on a stovetop.

Gases from Teflon coating can cause "polymer fume fever," the symptoms of which resemble the common flu. Ailments include tightness of the chest, cough, headache, chills, fever, and shortness of breath. Teflon and non-stick coating has been linked to the deaths of hundreds of household birds. Environmental Working Group, 05/01/2003

According to the United Steelworkers International Union, DuPont lacks sufficient safety training for its workers, safety guidelines are poorly written and implemented, and factories are poorly designed. In addition, DuPont fails to record workplace injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. According to OSHA, in 1997 and 1998, DuPont neglected to report 117 occupational injuries and illnesses. DuPont was fined $70,000 with instructions to conduct a corporate-wide review of injury and illness records over five years.

DuPont’s factories have experienced hundreds of chemical accidents:

* On October 11, 2004, four citations were issued to DuPont after its Wurtland, Kentucky facility leaked hundreds of pounds of sulfuric acid into the ground, water, and air.

* In July 2003, DuPont reached a $1.1 million legal settlement with the Justice Department and the EPA over Clean Air Act violations for the May 1997 chemical contamination in Louisville, Kentucky. Roughly 11,500 pounds of hydrogen fluoride had escaped into the air.

* In July 2005, seven people had minor injuries during a maintenance clean-up at Sabine River Works plant.

DuPont has contributed to over 20 superfund sites, which are identified as the nation’s worst toxic waste sites. Sites that put people most at risk are placed on the National Priority List (NPL); two of DuPont’s sites have made the list. In addition, DuPont has numerous other contaminated sites that require clean-up and remediation. US Steelworkers International Union, 09/01/2005

Financial information

Detailed financial information

Stock ticker symbol:

DDPRA

Fortune 500 position:

225

Total revenue:

$28.982 billion

Fiscal year:

2006

Net Income:

$3.148 billion

Fiscal year:

2006

Location

Headquarters

1007 Market St.

Wilmington, DE, 19898

United States