"Multibillion-dollar company DuPont worried about the potential cost of offsetting emissions of a ‘likely human carcinogen’"

"Chemicals giant DuPont decided to sell a plant in south Louisiana that emits a likely cancer causing pollutant, citing “major concerns” that government agencies would regulate its emissions to protect the community living nearby, internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.

The documents show the multibillion-dollar company worried in 2011 about the potential cost of offsetting its emissions of the “likely human carcinogen”, chloroprene, and so moved to sell the plant, the Pontchartrain Works facility.

The company codenamed the sale “Project Elm” in an apparent bid to keep the deal, completed in 2015, secretive. It is also alleged the company withheld details of its own research to offset emissions from the plant’s new owners.

Residents of the town of Reserve where the facility is located, described the revelations as “appalling” and said they had never been informed by DuPont of any potential emissions regulation."

Oliver Laughland reports for the Guardian February 17, 2021. [2]