News from USW: DuPont Puts American Communities at Risk; Shareholders, Executives Hear Grievances on Pollution and Health Problems at Annual Meeting.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- News from USW: Residents and workers from communities whose air and water are contaminated by the Teflon-chemical (PFOA) or dioxin personally made their grievances known to DuPont (NYSE:DD) executives, shareholders, and the board of directors during DuPont's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.

Nearly 100 affected residents and members of numerous labor and environmental groups rallied outside the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Del., with signs that read "DuPont Puts Americans at Risk" and chanted "Our health for your wealth? No!"

"We have realized that we are not alone in our fight against DuPont and the environmental contamination it causes," said Becky Gillette, co-chair of the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club. "DuPont must take steps to protect workers, communities and the environment from dangerous and toxic chemicals."

Nearly 2,000 people are suing DuPont for health problems related to toxic releases from the DeLisle, Miss., plant. DeLisle residents were joined by others from around the country whose groundwater and rivers have been contaminated with PFOA.

"PFOA is found in almost every American's blood and in our consumer items," said Pam Carter, who lives near the Fayetteville, N.C., plant. "It seems almost every month it's found to have contaminated another community's water. CEO Chad Holliday needs to be held accountable for letting this pollution get out of control!"

DuPont's Fayetteville plant is the only place where PFOA is manufactured in the U.S. The chemical was found in nearby groundwater and in a personal drinking well. The average levels of PFOA in the blood of tested employees in 2005 were nearly 100 times higher than the average level in the general population.

Two labor unions that represent DuPont employees, United Steelworkers (USW) and the Ampthill Rayon Workers, Inc., are concerned about worker exposure to PFOA and other toxic chemicals.

"We will no longer allow ourselves to be guinea pigs in DuPont's experiments," said Jim Rowe, USW Local 943 president in Deepwater, N.J. "We don't trust DuPont with PFOA or to safely handle the Army's VX nerve gas and discharge it into the Delaware River."

Inside the meeting, shareholders voted on two proposals. Amalgamated Bank LongView Collective Investment Fund proposed that DuPont creates a report evaluating the feasibility of an expeditious phase-out of the use of PFOA in products.

Green Century Funds requested that the DuPont board of directors create a report "on the implications of a policy for reducing potential harm and the number of people in danger from potential catastrophic chemical releases by increasing the inherent security of DuPont facilities."

Participants included members from the USW, Sierra Club, Ohio Citizen Action, US Public Interest Research Group, New Jersey Work Environment Council, South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, New Jersey Environmental Federation, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Clean Water for North Carolina and others.