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DEQ: Chemours says it shut down operations before Hurricane Florence; inspections to follow
The Chemours plant, responsible for discharging GenX and other fluorinated compounds into the Cape Fear River for at least 30 years, reportedly suspended its operations before Hurricane Florence hit, according to state environmental regulators. The facility hugs the Cape Fear River near the Cumberland-Bladen county line. North of the plant in Fayetteville, the river […]
Chemours hit with yet another lawsuit over GenX, fluorinated compounds contamination
Cape Fear River Watch, a nonprofit group in Wilmington, is suing Chemours in federal court over the company’s discharges and emissions of GenX and other fluorinated compounds. If a judge rules in favor of CFRW, the company could be fined hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in civil penalties. The Southern Environmental Law […]
N.C. General Assembly has failed to act, but the time to stop Chemours’ pollution is now
“How long before we say enough is enough?” state lawmaker Ted Davis Jr. asked his colleagues in the N.C. House in February. “How much more is Chemours going to get away with before something is done?”
Residents living near Chemours Fayetteville Works plant invited to participate in state GenX health study
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bladen and Cumberland county health departments plan to test the blood and urine of up to 30 residents living near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works facility for the presence of GenX and 16 other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also […]
Legislators have gone home, but the week ahead includes key dates on Chemours, coal ash, red wolves, hog waste and more
The Legislative Building might be quiet as a tomb, but state and federal agencies are crafting critical environmental policies that will affect North Carolina’s air, water and endangered species. Tuesday, July 10: Already on the brink of extinction in the wild, the 40 or so endangered red wolves have a dim future in eastern North […]
DEQ cites Chemours with more groundwater violations, asks court to intervene, invites public to comment
State environmental officials say they will petition a Bladen County Superior Court Judge to force Chemours to reduce its air emissions of fluorinated compounds at the Fayetteville Works facility by 97 percent within two months, as well as pay for permanent water supplies to households whose water has been contaminated by GenX pollution from the […]
DEQ to expand testing to other fluorinated compounds; Chemours neighbors complain of water making their hands “sticky”
Joan Jackson and her husband, Lawrence, have lived a mile and half from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant for about 40 years. They’ve relied on a 70-foot well for their water — water that hasn’t felt right for some time. Although state tests showed the Jacksons’ well tested below the health advisory goal for GenX and […]
House members file bill to fund DEQ, target actions by Chemours
Legislation filed today in the house would appropriate more than $14 million to the NC Department of Environmental Quality, while strengthening environmental laws that appear targeted at Chemours, the company that has contaminated drinking water, the Cape Fear River, air and groundwater with GenX and related compounds. House Bill 968 would also repeal the Hardison […]
NC State professor “retained” by Chemours is basis for claims that DEQ groundwater standards too stringent
This post has been updated with comments from Damien Shea, who responded the day after this story was posted. Analysis by a NC State University professor and scientist paid by Chemours is the basis of the company’s claim that voluntary state groundwater standards for GenX are too stringent. Damien Shea is a professor of environmental toxicology at […]
Chemours responds to DEQ with promises of new technology sandwiched with a veiled threat to leave North Carolina
This is the second of a two-part story about Chemours. Read an earlier piece, posted this morning, about a 2013 accident that injured 11 workers. Chemours had nearly three weeks to answer to demands from state environmental officials. But not until April 27, mere minutes from the deadline, did the company send its 30-page response […]
Department of Labor records document dangerous conditions inside Chemours facility
Despite severe worker injuries in 2013 incident, Department of Labor fines were minimal
On Halloween afternoon in 2013, a worker at DuPont’s Fayetteville Works plant was replacing a valve in a room that produces membranes containing Nafion. This is the same perfluorinated compound that for years flowed through an illegal, unlined “Nafion ditch” from the facility into the Cape Fear River and downstream to Wilmington’s drinking water supply.
Nationwide, Chemours has paid $28 million in fines since 2000, including workplace violation in Fayetteville
Got a tip? If you or someone you know works or has worked at the Chemours plant in Fayetteville, and has health issues possibly related to chemical exposure, we’d like to hear from you. Send a confidential email to [email protected]. We will contact you, but won’t use your name without your permission. For information on […]
DEQ asks judge to stop Chemours from discharging all GenX-related compounds, says company intentionally misled regulators
Chemours was so blatant in discharging GenX-related compounds from its Fayetteville Works plant that one of its disposal routes had a name: the Nafion Ditch. Nafion, which is used to manufacture membranes, is the brand name for a compound in the family of perfluorinated chemicals related to GenX. According to a complaint filed by the NC […]
Chemours emitted nearly 40 times GenX-related compounds into the air than company reported; DEQ issues notice
Chemours is emitting roughly 2,700 pounds — more than a ton — of GenX into the air each year, the Division of Air Quality announced today. That amount is 40 times higher than originally reported in early 2017 and four times higher than the company’s revised estimate submitted to state environmental regulators as recently as […]
Editorial: “Enough is enough”; It’s time to shut down Chemours factory that makes GenX
In its lead editorial this morning, the Wilmington Star News calls on state leaders to shut down the Chemours chemical operation that sits at the heart of the state’s GenX water pollution crisis. Here are some excerpts: “As much as we’ve wailed and gnashed teeth over the industrial chemical GenX in our drinking water, we […]
GenX found in rainwater near Chemours plant, likely source of groundwater contamination
Rain is likely a source of GenX groundwater contamination at and near the Chemours plant, according to test results released today by the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Samples from two rain events at 10 temporary sites near the plant showed concentrations ranging from non-detect to 5.2 parts per trillion to 630 ppt on Jan. […]