INVISTA
Jun 29, 2012 4:20pm EDT
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* Invista claimed misled on safety of plants
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* DuPont claimed Invista violated contract's terms
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* Invista, Justice Department entered large 2009 settlement
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June 29 (Reuters) - DuPont Co has settled a $745 million lawsuit brought by Koch Industries Inc's Invista unit over safety and environmental problems at plants once owned by the large chemical company.
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Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in a joint statement from the companies on Friday.
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Invista is a large fiber and polymer producer that once comprised DuPont's textiles and interiors business, and which Koch purchased from DuPont for about $4.4 billion in 2004.
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Four years later, Invista sued to recover cleanup costs at facilities transferred in that sale, accusing DuPont of misleading it about health and safety conditions there.
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DuPont had countered that it was not responsible to cover cleanup costs because Invista had violated contractual terms relating to environmental indemnification.
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A non-jury trial expected to run eight weeks began on June 4 before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan, but was put on hold this week as the settlement was being worked out.
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In April 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice said Invista agreed to pay a $1.7 million civil fine and spend up to $500 million to correct environmental problems at plants in seven U.S. states.
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Invista had earlier disclosed more than 680 regulatory violations to the Environmental Protection Agency after auditing 12 facilities it had bought from DuPont. The Justice Department had called the accord the largest under the EPA's audit policy.
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Privately held Koch Industries is based in Wichita, Kansas, and controlled by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
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Invista is also based in Wichita. It has several well-known brands including Lycra fiber and Stainmaster carpet, and also makes nylon, which DuPont had invented in the 1930s.
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DuPont is based in Wilmington, Delaware.
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The case is Invista BV et al v. EI DuPont de Nemours and Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-03063.
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INVISTA S.a.r.l.:
Invista, another Koch company, is a producer of resin and fibers intermediaries. The company was founded as a DuPont subsidiary in 2003 and acquired by Koch soon afterwards in 2004. Invista operates four dangerous facilities, the most dangerous of which is the INVISTA Intermediates Plant in LaPorte, TX. This facility puts an estimated 1,889,251 people at risk with its use of a formaldehyde process.
In its short corporate existence, Invista has earned a reputation for poor environmental stewardship. In April of 2009, the Justice Department and EPA ordered Invista to pay $1.7 million for an estimated 680 water, air, hazardous waste, emergency planning and preparedness, and pesticide violations. It was estimated that the company would have to spend an additional $500 million to correct these violations.
The La Porte, TX plant uses formaldehyde in the production of spandex fibers. Aside from its acute risk, studies have indicated that workers exposed to formaldehyde on a regular basis are at an increased risk of cancer. Koch Industries is a high-profile critic of these studies and any government regulation of formaldehyde.
Symptoms of formaldehyde exposure can vary based on factors such as the gas’ concentration level. At low exposure rates, .1-5 ppm, formaldehyde can cause eye irritation, skin irritation, or respiratory tract irritation. At more elevated concentrations, 5-20 ppm, can cause burning of the eyes, tears, and breathing problems. In even higher concentrations, 20-100 ppm, formaldehyde can cause the chest to tighten, an irregular heartbeat, severe lung irritation, the lungs to fill with fluid (pulmonary edema), and death (Chemical Security 101, p. 49)
The danger that Invista’s La Porte plant poses to the community is unnecessary. Koch can reduce the overall risk to the community by improving the plant’s pipeline delivery capabilities. In this arrangement, formaldehyde can be synthesized on an as-needed basis, eliminating the need for bulk storage of the chemical and the accompanying risks....
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/toxics/toxic-chemical-threats/Toxic-Koch-Keeping-Americans-at-Risk-of-a-Poison-Gas-Disaster/
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INVISTA is an independently managed, wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc. In 2004, subsidiaries of Koch Industries acquired INVISTA from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. INVISTA, formerly DuPont Textiles and Interiors, was combined with KoSa, a producer of commodity and specialty polyester fibers, polymers and intermediates. KoSa had been a Koch affiliate since 1998.
One of the largest privately held companies in the world, Koch Industries is primarily a family owned company, built on values such as integrity, humility and a desire to add real, long-term value to society. Koch companies employ about 100,000 people and have a presence in about 60 countries.
As a privately held company, Koch Industries does not release financial statements or other financial data. However, since 1960, the value of the Standard & Poor's 500 grew 150-fold, assuming the reinvestment of dividends. During that same period, the value of Koch Industries grew nearly 4,200-fold, using the same assumptions.
Contributing to the company’s continued financial strength is the shareholders’ long-time policy of reinvesting 90 percent of earnings. Since 2003, Koch companies have invested about $60 billion in acquisitions and other capital investments.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the storage virtualization software product, seeEMC Invista.
INVISTA| 
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| Industry | Spandex, Resin, Chemical,Polymer |
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| Headquarters | Wichita, Kansas, USA |
| Parent | Koch Industries |
| Website | www.invista.com |
INVISTA, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States, is the world's largest integrated fiber, resin and intermediates company.**DuPont** originally formed the company as a subsidiary in 2003 from its textile fibers division and named it DuPont Textiles and Interiors while a permanent identity was established.[1] The company was given thetrademarked name INVISTA and was then sold to privately owned**Koch Industries**in April 2004.[2] Koch Industries combined the newly acquired organization with their KoSa subsidiary to complete the INVISTA company.[3]
INVISTA's products include brands such as Lycra fiber, Stainmaster carpeting, Cordura durable fabrics,Tactel nylon fiber, and Antron commercial carpet fiber as well as a variety of polyester resins and specialty intermediates.
In 2009, Koch subsidiary INVISTA agreed to pay a $1.7 million civil penalty and spend up to $500 million to correct self-reported environmental violations at its facilities in seven states.[4][5] Prior to the settlement, the company had disclosed to the EPA more than 680 violations after auditing 12 facilities acquired from DuPont in 2004.[6][7] In June 2012, DuPont & Invista agreed to an out of court settlement to resolve indemnification issues related to these environmental issues [8]
INVISTA was mentioned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for self-reporting environmental violations. According to the EPA, "the emission reductions resulting from correcting these violations will result in estimated annual human health benefits valued at over $325 million, including 30 fewer premature deaths per year, 2,000 fewer days/year when people would miss school or work, and over 9,000 fewer cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms."[9]
References
- ^ "DuPont Announces Board of Directors for DuPont Textiles & Interiors" (Press release). dupont.com. May 1, 2003. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "DuPont and Koch Subsidiaries Agree On Sale of INVISTA Fibers Unit" (Press release). dupont.com. November 17, 2003. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "Koch Subsidiaries Buy Fibers Unit from DuPont" (Press release). invista.com. April 30, 2004. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "United States Announces Largest Settlement Under Environmental Protection Agency's Audit Policy" (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ "United States Announces Largest Settlement Under Environmental Protection Agency's Audit Policy" (Press release). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ Levi Wolters (13 April 2009). "INVISTA to correct EPA violations". Wichita Business Journal.
- ^ "INVISTA, Agencies File Agreement" (Press release). INVISTA. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ "INVISTA and DuPont (DD) Settle Litigation in NY District Court".
- ^ "United States Announces Largest Settlement Under Environmental Protection Agency’s Audit Policy". EPA. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
External links
| INVISTA | Georgia-Pacific |
| Other units |
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