Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation
Union Carbide Corporation (“Union Carbide”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is and has been involved in a large number of asbestos-related suits filed primarily in state courts during the past four decades. These suits principally allege personal injury resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing products and frequently seek both actual and punitive damages. The alleged claims primarily relate to products that Union Carbide sold in the past, alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products located on Union Carbide’s premises, and Union Carbide’s responsibility for asbestos suits filed against a former Union Carbide subsidiary, Amchem Products, Inc.
For additional information, see Part II, Item 7. Other Matters, Asbestos-Related Matters of Union Carbide Corporation in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Notes 1 and 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Environmental Proceedings
On May 17, 2021, the Company received a civil complaint from the State of Texas ("State") on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The complaint, filed in the 250th District Court of Travis County, Texas, alleges environmental violations at the Company's Freeport, Texas, site involving 12 discrete air emissions events. The State is seeking monetary relief of no more than $1 million and injunctive relief to prevent recurrence. On August 31, 2021, the State informed the Company that it would be including additional air emissions events in the complaint, which may impact the monetary relief sought by the State. Discussions between the Company and the Texas Office of the Attorney General are ongoing.
On February 3, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed a draft administrative order to resolve alleged violations at the Rohm and Haas Chemicals facility in Kankakee, Illinois, relating to a storage tank at the site that does not have certain control equipment specified by EPA Clean Air Act regulations. This issue was self-disclosed by the facility to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in 2015. Negotiations with the agencies are ongoing.
On December 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint and proposed consent decree on behalf of the EPA relating to environmental contamination at the Lower Passaic River Study Area Superfund Site in New Jersey. The proposed consent decree includes a requirement that 85 settling defendants, including the Company’s Essex Chemical Corporation subsidiary ("Essex"), make a collective payment of $150 million for the EPA’s past and anticipated future response costs, with Essex’s share of the group settlement costs being $1.15 million. The proposed consent decree was submitted for notice and a public comment period on December 23, 2022, with public comments due by March 23, 2023.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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Table of Contents
Dow Inc. and Subsidiaries
The Dow Chemical Company and Subsidiaries
PART II