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Deal struck to stop GenX runoff at NC's Chemours plant

State regulators, environmental groups, company back the deal, say it will protect Cape Fear River.

Posted Updated

By
Travis Fain
, WRAL statehouse reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — State regulators, environmental groups and a major manufacturer of so-called "forever chemicals" in North Carolina announced a deal Thursday to keep those chemicals from leaching into drinking water supplies.

The Cape Fear River Watch, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Chemours, which operates a plant on the Bladen-Cumberland county line, said the agreement requires the company to stop nearly all chemical runoffs and install an in-ground barrier at the plant.

The deal will be part of a consent order that already required the company to cut chemical air emissions and water discharges at the plant.

Combined with older elements of that consent order, "today’s agreement ensures that pollution from every other significant pathway of PFAS contamination from the Chemours’ Fayetteville Works Facility to the Cape Fear River is reduced by at least 99 percent," the environmental groups said in a news release.

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan called the state's response to Chemours' emissions "unprecedented."

“We have already issued significant penalties and ordered Chemours to stop actively polluting," Regan said in a statement. "Today’s actions lay out exactly how Chemours will clean up the residual contamination they’ve caused that continues to impact communities along the Cape Fear River."

The plan still needs to be approved by the Superior Court judge monitoring the case in Bladen County, and a 30-day public comment period comes first.

The company noted in a statement that it had already "substantially reduced levels of site related PFAS from reaching the environment" and said the new agreement includes "further commitments to reduce groundwater-related impacts from the site to the Cape Fear River."

The company has said before that it's already spent more than $100 million on upgrades, most of it to scrub the chemicals from air emissions. Chemours is not only subject to this consent order, but it faces a string of lawsuits over GenX and other chemical releases.

The chemicals are not fully understood, may cause health problems and can't be removed from drinking water using traditional methods. Water plants in the state are contemplating millions of dollars in upgrades to deal with PFAS, chemicals used to make non-stick coatings as well as fire-fighting foam and other products.

Among other things, the latest agreement requires a new groundwater extraction system to deal with chemicals seeping from the plant into the local water table.

The company said that, "when viewed in their totality, the actions being taken by Chemours in North Carolina to address and control PFAS emissions from our Fayetteville Works site and remediate existing environmental matters far exceed known actions taken by any other company in the state."

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette called the agreement "a huge win for the Cape Fear River and the people who depend on it."

The SELC and Cape Fear River Watch described the agreement like this:

  • To control its groundwater pollution, Chemours will build an in-ground barrier between the Cape Fear River and its contaminated site. Chemours will pump out polluted groundwater trapped by the barrier and treat it, removing at least 99 percent of the PFAS. This remedy is expected to be completed in spring 2023.
  • To control contaminated streams flowing into the Cape Fear River, Chemours will install in-stream filters subject to strict pollution reduction requirements. After the barrier wall is installed, the filters must remove at least 99 percent of GenX and other PFAS pollution in the streams compared to existing conditions. In the interim, the company is required to reduce pollution in the streams by a minimum of 80 percent.
  • To control stormwater pollution from its site, Chemours must capture stormwater from the portion of its facility that contributes the most contaminated runoff and treat it, removing at least 99 percent of the PFAS.

The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters gave the agreement a thumbs-up in its own statement Thursday, saying it shows that DEQ "is putting its full muscle behind its mission to hold polluters accountable."

"Now we need further action from the General Assembly, Congress and the U.S. EPA to fully research and regulate all forever chemicals that for too long have threatened every North Carolinian's health and quality of life," the group said.

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