ROCKFORD, MI — Wolverine World Wide is prepared to spend millions of dollars to clean up water contamination tied to tannery waste, the shoe company’s CEO said Wednesday.
The comments were the first Krueger has made publicly about the company’s responsibility in the state’s growing investigation of a toxic chemical which has subsequently polluted the Rogue River in Rockford and poisoned drinking water supplies in Plainfield Township.
The water contamination question was the first one asked during the nearly hour-long call to discuss third quarter results that exceeded analysts’ expectation.
Wolverine spent $500,000 in the last quarter, and was on pace to spend another $2 million to $3 million in the current quarter, Chief Financial Officer Michael D. Stornant said.
"But that is really conservative," Stornant told analysts.
Wolverine briefly warned of potential environmental problems in its 2016 annual report.
One study, he said, found that about 98 percent of people in the U.S. have some of the chemical in their body.
"Right now, it’s not a regulated substance for drinking water from the state of Michigan or most states," said Krueger.
"As a company we have taken a very proactive and conservative approach," Krueger said.
Despite Wolverine executives saying they didn’t know about problems until 2016, recent documents indicate the shoe company was contacted by 3M in 1999 about potential environmental and health issues connected to Scotchgard.