RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Chemical giant DuPont would pay around $50 million in a proposed settlement aimed at making up for the toxic mercury that one of its factories released for decades into a Virginia river.
State and federal officials announced the deal Thursday to remediate the South and Shenandoah rivers, which were polluted by DuPont's former plant in Waynesboro.
Officials call it the largest environmental damage settlement in Virginia history and the eighth largest in the nation.
The company based in Wilmington, Delaware, used mercury to manufacture rayon from around 1929 to 1950. Some of the toxic chemical seeped out and spread downstream.
Projects the money would pay for include wildlife habitat restoration, water quality enhancement and improvements to recreational areas.