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 several 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.
Securities Litigation
On August 29, 2025, a putative securities class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company, its Chief Executive Officer, its Chief Financial Officer, and its Chief Operating Officer due to alleged false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s ability to navigate macroeconomic and tariff-related pressures, competitive and pricing pressures and softening demand, and the Company’s ability to sustain its dividend, which allegedly caused the Company’s securities to trade at artificially inflated prices. The action seeks unspecified compensatory damages.
Subsequently, four putative shareholder derivative actions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on September 5, 2025, September 11, 2025, September 18, 2025, and November 21, 2025, which are based on the same alleged facts and circumstances as the above-referenced securities class action, and name certain of the Company's officers, including its Chief Executive Officer, its Chief Financial Officer, and its Chief Operating Officer, and members of its Board of Directors, as defendants. The derivative actions assert claims for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims, and seek to recover damages on behalf of the Company. All of the derivative actions have been stayed pending resolution of the securities class action.
Environmental Proceedings
On December 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint and proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ("District Court") on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") relating to environmental contamination at the Lower Passaic River Study Area Superfund Site in New Jersey. The EPA filed an amended complaint and proposed consent decree on January 17, 2024. 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. On January 31, 2024, the EPA filed a motion for approval and entry of the consent decree. On December 18, 2024, the District Court approved and entered the consent decree. The District Court's decision has been appealed to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
In October 2023, Region 6 of the EPA conducted an inspection of the Company’s Louisiana Operations under the EPA’s Risk Management Program ("RMP"). The inspection was initiated due to an incident at the Company's Glycol-2 unit in Plaquemine, Louisiana, on July 14, 2023, as previously disclosed by the Company. The EPA published its inspection report on January 26, 2024. On January 3, 2025, the Company received a Notice Letter from the EPA’s enforcement branch, which formally alleged 21 violations of RMP and Clean Air Act requirements and offered the Company an opportunity to confer with the EPA. Discussions between the Company and the EPA are ongoing.
On September 29, 2025, the EPA informed the Company of its intention to seek a civil penalty for benzene emissions in Orange, Texas, alleged to be in excess of action levels set out in an existing 2021 consent decree. Discussions between the Company and the EPA are ongoing.
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On October 14, 2025, the EPA sent Dow Silicones Corporation a letter demanding payment of $329,000 in stipulated penalties incurred under the terms of the January 24, 2020 consent decree in United States of America, et al., v. Dow Silicones Corporation. The stipulated penalties result from self-reported violations of consent decree provisions since 2020. Payment of this stipulated penalty will resolve these violations and is a necessary step prior to termination of the consent decree.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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Dow Inc. and Subsidiaries
The Dow Chemical Company and Subsidiaries
PART II