FAYETTEVILLE — Chemours said Friday its newly constructed $75 million thermal oxidizer is up and running.
In a release, the company said the next step in its $100 million investment toward emissions control technology will be a 90-day period at the end of which the company will show 99.99 percent efficiency in removing PFAS air emssions. Testing will be done by Chemours and the N.C. Division of Air Quality.
PFAS is an acronymn for a family of chemical compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This includes GenX, the contaminant discovered in the Cape Fear River that was first reported in June 2017 by the Wilmington newspaper, The StarNews.
In the release, the plant manager of Chemours at the Fayetteville Works plant straddling the Bladen and Cumberland counties line said the news ahead of Tuesday’s court-ordered deadline to be operational is significant.
“Our Chemours team has achieved dramatic reductions in PFAS emissions, and done so in a greatly compressed timeframe, considering the complexity and scale of the emissions control technology that was designed and installed,” Brian Long said. “No other company has demonstrated this type of commitment to reduce PFAS emissions from their manufacturing operations. We hope our efforts are a launching point for other PFAS manufacturers to make similar commitments around emissions reduction, and demonstrate to our neighbors how seriously we take their concerns.”
The consent order signed by Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser, Chemours, Cape Fear River Watch and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. It is a settlement between the parties that commits Chemours to speeding up plans to reduce chemicals reaching downstream public water utilities on top of paying $13 million in penalties and costs. The deal doesn’t affect lawsuits against Chemours or DuPont by residents and Wilmington’s water utility 100 miles downstream.
DuPont is the company which spun off Chemours in 2015.
The thermal oxidizer was partially assembled off site, then shipped to Chemours and put together.
Earlier this month a meeting was held in Tar Heel at the middle school to learn about the health effects of the chemicals in the family, including C8.
Since 2017, testing has shown the spread of contaminants through the air and in wells at residences in the area. It has been found as much as 9 miles away on the eastern side of the Cape Fear River, and in a 2015 water sample taken just above Lock and Dam No. 1.
Chemours is still under court order to make sure people have good water.
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