FAYETTEVILLE – Environmental groups say Chemours has violated groundwater, surface-water and air-emissions requirements in a court-enforceable North Carolina PFAS consent order.
Cape Fear River Watch and the Southern Environmental Law Center sent a formal notice Wednesday to Chemours and the state Department of Environmental Quality. The groups said they could ask a judge to enforce the 2019 order and its 2020 addendum if the alleged violations are not corrected. The notice contains allegations, not a court finding.
The order governs contamination from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant in Bladen County. DEQ says it requires the company to reduce PFAS releases to air, groundwater and surface waters, provide replacement drinking water where required and carry out cleanup measures.
One dispute concerns a requirement to reduce PFAS loading to the Cape Fear River and three nearby waterways by at least 75% from a baseline for eight consecutive quarters. The groups allege Chemours excludes ultra-short-chain compounds from its calculations and that contaminated groundwater is moving around a barrier wall and reaching surface water without treatment.
The notice also alleges Chemours has not implemented an adequate groundwater corrective-action plan. On air emissions, the groups contend three process streams are not routed to the plant’s thermal oxidizer and that a separate carbon unit has not consistently achieved a required GenX reduction.
Chemours disputes the allegations. Spokeswoman Jess Loizeaux told WUNC the company has taken significant steps under the order, including installing emissions controls, water-treatment and remediation systems, monitoring programs and replacement drinking-water supplies. She declined to address the specific claims because they could become part of litigation.
The notice follows a separate $590 million settlement announced this month between Chemours, North Carolina and local governments. WUNC reported that the state agreed in that settlement that Chemours had met the order’s air-emissions requirements and would develop a process for resolving remaining groundwater obligations. Cape Fear River Watch says the original order requires all parties to agree before those obligations are deemed complete.
The groups requested a meeting with DEQ and Chemours. Their notice keeps the dispute within the existing state court order while preserving the possibility of another enforcement action.
Sources
- SELC and Cape Fear River Watch: Sept. 23 enforcement notice
- WUNC: Chemours response and consent-order dispute
- NCDEQ: Chemours consent order and compliance requirements
Photo: Bud Davis/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain. File image of Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Cape Fear River near East Arcadia. Cropped and resized.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.