NC leaders urge court to reject EPA’s ‘backroom PFAS deal’ with Chemours

North Carolina state leaders are asking a federal court to turn down what they call a “backroom deal” between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and chemical manufacturer Chemours. 

Chemours, formerly part of DuPont, has been manufacturing chemicals in its Fayetteville plant for decades. In 2017, scientists discovered that PFAS — sometimes known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment — were being released from the plant into the Cape Fear river, as well as into other bodies of water from plants in West Virginia and New Jersey. 

More than 2,600 plaintiffs sued Chemours for polluting their drinking water wells, air, soil, and groundwater. The pollution impacted about 500,000 North Carolinians and about 10,000 private drinking wells. 

But plaintiffs won’t get their day in court if a proposed landmark $450 million settlement between the EPA and Chemours, announced last month, moves forward. It requires approval from a federal judge. 

In their public comment on the settlement filed Wednesday, Gov. Josh Stein, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson criticized the agency for excluding North Carolina from negotiations. 

“For decades, Chemours knowingly contaminated North Carolina’s air and water by discharging PFAS from its Fayetteville plant into the Cape Fear River,” Stein said in a statement Thursday. “Now, the EPA is cutting a deal with Chemours that does next to nothing for North Carolinians and allows polluters to choose what to clean up and where.”

Jackson previously encouraged North Carolinians to submit public comments to the federal government on how the agreement affects them. He shared the letter that he, Stein, and Wilson submitted on Wednesday.

NC AG Jackson calls on residents to weigh in on Chemours’ ‘backroom deal’ over PFAS

“Chemours and the EPA negotiated this deal behind our backs,” Jackson said in a statement. “It does nothing to fix the decades of damage Chemours has done to our state, and it’s offensive to the people who drink this water.”

The state leaders are asking the federal court to reject the proposal. Instead, they want the EPA to work with North Carolina to develop a settlement that benefits the state and its residents. 

While the agreement requires Chemours to spend $90 million over 15 years to fund water cleanup and clean drinking water projects, none of that money is earmarked for the Tar Heel State. 

“This proposed sweetheart deal that was brokered without even consulting North Carolina requires almost nothing more of Chemours than it’s already doing under the consent order it signed with DEQ,” Wilson said in a statement. “It’s offensive and unfair to the people of this state.”

A coalition of nine organizations represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center also filed public comments against the settlement. They say the deal absolves Chemours of responsibility for its actions. 

Attorneys from SELC described the deal as a “remarkably poor bargain” for North Carolina, according to the letter. 

“Rather than holding Chemours accountable, the deal appears designed to shield the company from meaningful consequences for the widespread harm its chemicals have caused,” said Kelly Moser, senior attorney and leader of the Water Program at SELC. “The message is hard to ignore: Chemours gets leniency while families get contamination.”