Wolverine pegs environmental testing at $40m - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

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Wolverine pegs environmental testing at $40m

13/02/2018
US-based footwear group Wolverine World Wide has estimated the costs of testing at its former tannery at the centre of a water pollution debate to be in the region of $30 million to $35 million in fiscal 2017, which it will seek to recoup from insurers and other parties.

Of this, $13 million to $16 million is expected to be paid in fiscal 2018 with the remainder to be paid in 2019 and beyond.  

The company also expects to incur $8 million to $12 million in fiscal 2018 for legal, consulting and other costs related to the environmental issue.  

The issue was highlighted when streams and water sources close to its former tannery in Rockford, which closed in 2009, were said to contain PFOA and PFOS, two of the family of compounds known as per and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFOA and PFOS were used for many decades in commercial products and in common consumer items like food wrappers, pizza boxes and 3M's Scotchgard.  

Wolverine purchased Scotchgard to coat its Hush Puppies shoe leather and “relied on 3M's assurances that there were no adverse effects on human health from Scotchgard containing PFOA and PFOS”. 

“Despite decades of study and millions of dollars of research, human health effects from PFOA and PFOS are unknown, and no human studies have proven that exposure by an individual to PFOA or PFOS causes any illness,” said Wolverine in a statement.

Over the past year the company has been working with authorities to test area groundwater for the possible presence of PFOA and PFOS.  

“Wolverine has taken proactive and immediate steps to provide drinking water solutions for impacted residents in our community while more testing and evaluation is completed,” it added.  “The actions taken by the Company have been beyond those voluntarily taken by other companies or the federal government facing similar circumstances.”

The group has announced preliminary revenue for fiscal 2017 of $2.35 billion.

Mike Stornant, chief financial officer, said: "The company has been very proactive and has successfully navigated the challenging and fast-changing global retail marketplace, something we've been calling the "New Normal" environment for several years. We have focused on operational excellence and addressing underperforming segments of our business. The result is a stronger portfolio that is now positioned to be more profitable and generate sustainable growth."

The group's portfolio includes Merrell, Sperry, Hush Puppies, Saucony, Wolverine, Keds, Stride Rite, Chaco, Bates, HYTEST and Soft Style. 

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