Chemours will pay a $305,000 penalty for air permit violations, as part of a settlement agreement with the NC Department of Environmental Quality that was announced late yesterday.
The Division of Air Quality fined Chemours a year ago because the company had exceeded its GenX emissions over a rolling 12-month period. The company must limit its total GenX emissions to 23 pounds per year, equivalent to a 99% reduction over 2017 levels. State regulators had found that equipment designed to control those emissions, known as a Carbon Adsorber Unit, had not been properly operated or maintained for nearly a month.
Chemours disputed the penalty and filed a contested case with the Office of Administrative Hearings. The hearing was scheduled to begin next month.
The settlement agreement does buy Chemours some time to upgrade or replace key parts of the Carbon Adsorber Unit. Those repairs must be finished by Oct. 31. GenX emissions from that unit are limited to no more than 1 pound per month, on average, from May through September. The company must also conduct monthly stack testing and report those results to the division.
If Chemours fails to adhere to the terms of the settlement agreement, it faces additional fines of $125,000 per violation.
Chemours reported net sales of $6.3 billion for 2021, up 28% over the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the company reported net sales of $1.6 billion, according to investor reports.
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