State to revoke Chemours' permit, refers spill probe to SBI

Timeline: Tracking GenX contamination in NC

Since then, the state has forced the company to capture wastewater containing GenX and truck it out of state for disposal.

DEQ officials said the move to revoke Chemours' permit was prompted by the company's failure to report an Oct. 6 spill at the Fayetteville Works plant of C3 dimer acid fluoride, which effectively breaks down in water into the equivalent of GenX.

"It is unacceptable that Chemours has failed to disclose information required by law, information we need in order to protect the public," DEQ Secretary Michael Regan said in a statement. "We’re taking action to suspend Chemours' wastewater permit and moving to permanently revoke it because the company has repeatedly failed to follow the law."

A spokesman with Chemours Friday morning called the state's actions to partially strip the company of its permit "unwarranted."

"The Company has worked in good faith to cooperate fully with all of DEQ’s requests, including capturing all wastewater they have previously requested that we capture. While we do not believe there is a legal basis on which to suspend or revoke the permit, we will accept the DWR’s invitation in its letter that we meet with them and look forward to discussing a path forward," Chemours spokesperson Gary Cambre said in a statement. "We remain committed to operating this facility, which employs hundreds of North Carolina residents, in accordance with all applicable laws and in a manner that respects the environment and public health and safety."

Regulators didn't discover the spill until nearly a month later, when testing showed spiking levels of GenX in the Cape Fear River and drinking water downstream. A subsequent inspection prompted the company to disclose that it had spilled the GenX precursor, which later washed into the river after heavy rainfall.

In the agency's letter to the company, Division of Water Resources Interim Director Linda Culpepper said the company's actions "thwarted DWR's efforts to address the numerous and complex issues associated with the Chemours' discharge."

Republican State Sen. Mike Lee, who represents voters in New Hanover County downstream from the Chemours plant, commended DEQ's announcement Thursday afternoon – and hinted at the political clash between the legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper over issues of timing, enforcement and funding to tackle the issue of unregulated contaminants.

"For months, we have called on Gov. Cooper’s administration to do the right thing, and we are glad they’re finally taking the needed steps to hold Chemours accountable. The news reports that Chemours deliberately withheld information about yet another spill of GenX that could endanger our drinking water are shocking and show the same disturbing lack of transparency as the company’s repeated refusal to testify at our public hearings," Lee said in the statement. "We agree that referring this matter to the State Bureau of Investigation is the appropriate next step."

The suspension and revocation of the company's permit deals only with the portion of the Bladen County plant that produces GenX and related chemicals – referred to as the "fluoromonomers/Nafion membrane manufacturing area." The state's letter specifically says that it will not affect waste streams the company is responsible for but which actually are produced by the Kuraray and DuPont facilities also at the site. Nor will it effect other Chemours discharges of "sanitary wastewater, co-neutralized regenerate, storm water, non-contact cooling water, boiler blowdown and condensate and cooling tower blowdown," the letter sates.

The process affected, though, "is one of the larger businesses on the site," said Chuck Heustess, executive director of the Bladen County Economic Development Commission.

"You're talking about a critical, critical product when it comes to being able to manufacture other products," Heustess said.

Heustess said the plant is the county’s second-largest employer and a major part of the county tax base. With part-time contractors included – and that figure varies – there are "easily 600 to 800 employees up there at any given time."

DEQ spokeswoman Sarah Young said the partial suspension of the Chemours' permit doesn't necessarily mean the company will have to shut down the process.

"They'll have to figure something out," Young said. "Our expectations are that they'll have to capture and divert offsite."

Environmental groups applauded the move Thursday afternoon. And North Carolina Conservation Network Executive Director Brian Buzby called on state lawmakers to take steps to better regulate and monitor other industrial chemicals in the Cape Fear River and other waterways statewide.

"The action comes after multiple attempts to work with the polluter and sends an important signal: The state won’t tolerate dischargers violating the law and then trying to hide it," Buzby said in a statement. "This is the right approach. No polluter is above the law, and dischargers have an obligation not to abuse the waters that support all of us."