Chemours litigation takes another step to prevent Cape Fear River contamination

FAYETTEVILLE — An agreement between DEQ and the Chemours Co. is expected to further reduce chemical contamination of the Cape Fear River.

The state Department of Environmental Quality and Chemours made the announcement Thursday. It’s a tentative agreement also involving Cape Fear River Watch related to litigation between the chemical company giant and environmental groups; it does not include the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, the main supplier of drinking water downstream around Wilmington.

In its statement, DEQ said, “These actions address more than 90 percent of the PFAS entering the Cape Fear River through groundwater from the residual contamination on the site.”

Chemours’ statement read, in part, “Prior to this agreement, actions already taken by our company had substantially reduced levels of site-related PFAS from reaching the environment.”

PFAS is an acronym for per- and polyfluoroakyl substances. They are also called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down over time. Chemours makes them for uses in hundreds of products that are waterproof or heat- and stain-resistant. It includes GenX, the contaminant discovered in the Cape Fear River that was first reported in June 2017 by the Wilmington newspaper, The StarNews.

These changes make commitments to reduce groundwater-related impacts from the site to the Cape Fear River. This includes the implementation of a groundwater extraction system and flow-through cells to treat four groundwater seeps.

Included in the agreement:

• The interim measures to filter PFAS at an efficiency of at least 80 percent from the first of the four seeps will go into effect starting by mid-November. All four should be completed by April.

• The permanent measure is the construction of a subsurface barrier wall approximately 1.5 miles long and groundwater extraction system that will remove at least 99 percent of PFAS. This is to be completed by March 2023.

Chemours is also required to treat on-site stormwater that is adding residual pollution to the river with a capture and treatment system that must remove at least 99 percent of PFAS.

Failure to meet the schedules or achieve the removal goals will result in financial penalties. They include:

• Fines of $5,000 per day for the first 14 days and $10,000 per day until construction is complete for not meeting the construction schedule for the interim measures.

• Fine of $150,000 followed by $20,000 per week until installation is complete for not meeting the barrier wall installation schedule.

• Fine of $500,000 for not meeting the barrier wall’s 95 percent mass loading goal in the initial demonstration results, with a $100,000 fine for failure to meet any of the four subsequent demonstrations.

There will be a public comment period of 30 days for the addendum prior to it being entered in Bladen County Superior Court.

Chemours’ second quarter portfolio report included net sales of $1.09 billion; $166 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; and $50 million in free cash flow.

In a prepared statement, the DEQ leader said the agreement is historic.

“This level of action is unprecedented and continues to build a foundation for the attorney general’s broader investigation of PFAS in North Carolina,” said DEQ Secretary Michael S. Regan. “As a state, we will not wait for action from the federal government to provide relief for our communities and protect our natural resources.”

PFAS are not regulated, and water tests results are not required to be made public by utilities that participate in testing.