DuPont settles Delaware River pollution claims

The fine and settlement comes as DuPont, which earned $3 billion in profits last year, is weighing whether to expand the Edge Moor plant or rival works in the southern United States and in Asia. Chief executive Ellen Kullman has met with President Obama, urging less cumbersome regulations and lower taxes to make it more attractive for her company to site more factories and jobs in this country. The company also says it is committed to clean water and to obeying the law.

The government says DuPont Edge Moor illegally discharged pollutants into the Delaware for the last six years, violating the state and federal Clean Water Acts. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control hit DuPont with a violation for dumping more than its permit allowed in 2008 for "numerous effluent discharges" and other violations, leading to Thursday's settlement, the agencies said in a statement.

Besides the fine, DuPont has agreed to set up a plan by 2013 to reduce wastewater violations subject to EPA and state approval, and submit to EPA review of its storm-water pollution records.

In a statement, DuPont spokesman Rick Straitman said DuPont had "self-reported" the data that led to the government accusations, and added that the company has spent $14 million upgrading the plant to improve discharge, and will spend more.