This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.
An announcement from Attorney General Jeff Jackson and NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson noted that alongside the $1.2 billion spent by Chemours under the 2019 consent order, the state and local municipalities have now recovered close to $2 billion in value for residents.
“Chemours and DuPont devastated North Carolina’s water and natural resources for decades,” Jackson said in a statement. “This deal forces them to pay for the harm they caused the people of southeastern North Carolina, and gives our local governments more resources to help ensure clean drinking water for families. It is a massive step forward in giving our state more dollars to help fund clean water programs. This settlement puts even more teeth behind the consent order with NCDEQ. Chemours made this mess, and we’re making sure Chemours cleans it up.”
The settlement ends the lawsuit initially filed on behalf of the state by then-Attorney General Josh Stein in 2020. It does not absolve Chemours from claims from individuals, nor does it end litigation against other companies who may be producing PFAS.
Wilson noted that “while no amount of money can fully compensate North Carolinians for all the harm these companies have done to public health and the environment, this settlement not only provides funds to address PFAS contamination but also strengthens DEQ’s 2019 Consent Order with Chemours.”
In a statement to WHQR, a Chemours spokesperson said the company was “proud” to have reached a resolution.
“Over the past several years, Chemours has invested about $1.2 billion to significantly reduce PFAS emissions from Fayetteville Works, mitigate off-site impacts, and address community concerns, and today's agreement recognizes that progress. It also provides a clear path forward for addressing the remaining off-site obligations under the 2019 Consent Order while supporting the continued operation of Fayetteville Works. We remain committed to responsibly manufacturing the chemistries our world relies on and continuing to earn the trust of our neighbors and community,” the spokesperson wrote.
Below: A timeline of some of the litigation against Chemours
Payouts to local governments, but not CFPUA
According to Jackson’s office, the “agreement guarantees $455 million to the state and to 11 local governments that joined the deal, to be paid over the next 10 to 15 years.”
That includes $75 million allocated to the state, and $55 million going to the Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund, created by the General Assembly, to fund local efforts to detect and reduce drinking water contaminants.
It also includes $380 million, divided between local governments and one water utility that had previously sued Chemours and DuPont.
- Bladen County
- Brunswick County
- Columbus County
- Cumberland County
- New Hanover County
- Robeson County
- Sampson County
- Town of Wrightsville Beach
- City of Lumberton
- Village of Bald Head Island
- Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority
The AG’s office didn’t specify what amounts individual entities would receive, or how individual local governments would utilize the settlement payments.
However, Republican New Hanover County Chair LeAnn Pierce said during a press conference on Thursday afternoon that the settlement would bring $22.8 million to the county.
She said it would be put to work to directly address PFAS pollution issues, "starting with the people who rely on private wells who have carried this burden the longest." While the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority was able to reduce most PFAS to non-detect levels by the fall of 2022, many on well water still deal with contamination.
Republican Vice-Chair Dane Scalise and Democratic Commissioner Rob Zapple, also present at the press conference, both noted that this did not let Chemours off the hook for future pollution — and that commissioners would weigh in on future permitting requests from Chemours.
Notably, the settlement does not include the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which was not a party to the lawsuit that resulted in this settlement.
In a statement, CFPUA wrote that it was encouraged to learn about the settlement, but emphasized “this settlement does not impact CFPUA’s separate and ongoing lawsuit against Chemours and DuPont. Perhaps today’s events will motivate Chemours to take responsibility for its continued burden on CFPUA.”
CFPUA said it will continue its litigation against Chemours and DuPont, noting that it has spent millions on mitigating their pollution.
Reserve fund
Jackson’s office also said the settlement establishes a $135-million reserve fund from DuPont and its associated company Cortevea that will “guarantee the work that Chemours must continue to complete for decades,” under the consent order.
“A key feature of that consent order is requiring Chemours to provide clean drinking water to families whose well water is polluted with PFAS from Fayetteville Works. If at any time Chemours loses the ability to pay for these obligations, the state can tap into a reserve fund of $135 million to make sure the work gets done. This ensures that the families receiving clean drinking water will continue to do so, regardless of Chemours’ future financial footing,” according to Jackson’s office.
Chemours noted the settlement “does not impose new operational or remediation requirements at Fayetteville Works or materially change the existing Consent Order established between the State of North Carolina and Chemours in 2019.”
The announcement also listed some of the results of the consent order, including:
- Chemours stopped discharging highly contaminated wastewater from Fayetteville Works.
- The company constructed a subsurface barrier wall more than a mile long to prevent PFAS contamination from migrating into the Cape Fear River.
- Chemours installed multiple treatment systems to treat contaminated groundwater and stormwater, and pollution control technology to control 99.99% of PFAS air from Fayetteville Works.
- The company has sampled approximately 27,500 wells belonging to southeastern North Carolina households for the presence of PFAS.
- And, Chemours has offered clean drinking water (e.g., filtration systems) to approximately 10,500 families whose wells are polluted with PFAS.
Jackson’s office said the settlement was a “vast improvement” over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s deal with Chemours earlier this year, which offered $90 million across three states, with no promise of money coming to North Carolina. Jackson, who was excluded from negotiations on that deal, called it “insulting.”
A “mixed bag,” advocates say
The Southern Environmental Law Center, which sued Chemours in 2018 on behalf of Cape Fear River Walk, has long been critical of Chemours and some less vigorous attempts to regulate the company. On Thursday, senior attorney Jean Zhuang issued a statement on the settlement.
“This settlement provides much-needed money for municipalities impacted by Chemours’ pollution, but it is not the end of the story,” she wrote, pointing to “Chemours' planned expansion, extensive groundwater contamination, and ongoing releases of ultra short-chain PFAS into drinking water supplies all remain unresolved.”
SELC said that Chemours’ plans to expand PFAS production at its Fayetteville Works facility “would substantially increase production at its Fayetteville Works site, even as multiple local governments and communities have called for its contamination to be fully cleaned up before any expansion is approved.”
