DuPont
Pittsboro sues 20 companies, including 3M, Chemours, DuPont over PFAS contamination in town drinking water
The Town of Pittsboro has sued more than 20 companies, including Chemours, DuPont and 3M, BASF and several other manufacturers of PFAS, for allegedly polluting its water supply with the toxic compounds. The lawsuit was filed yesterday in Chatham County Superior Court. It asks the court to force the companies to reimburse the town for […]
BREAKING: NC Supreme Court issues much anticipated rulings on education funding, environmental protection
[These are developing stories. Policy Watch will be posting regular updates.] After nearly three decades of litigation, Leandro case finally comes to a head as justices order lawmakers to fund court-approved education improvement plan By Greg Childress In a dramatic ruling issued just days before midterm elections, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a lower […]
NC Attorney General’s Office argues that DuPont’s holding companies should also be on the hook for PFAS liabilities in NC
The historical DuPont corporation -- known in court records as "Old DuPont" -- has parked roughly $20 billion in two “paper companies” (which have no employees, offices or equipment) to shield those assets from legal liability, a lawyer for the North Carolina Attorney General argued before the state Supreme Court today.
Attorney General Josh Stein suing DuPont, Chemours over toxic PFAS contamination in drinking water
Attorney General Josh Stein today filed a lawsuit against DuPont and Chemours, alleging they covered up the discharge and release of toxic PFAS, including GenX into the drinking water and air, even though the companies knew the compounds were harmful. PFAS is short for perfluorinated compounds, of which there are at least 7,000, according to […]
GenX crisis didn’t have to happen: EPA Inspector General finds agency’s regional office knew nothing of a 2009 consent order
The GenX crisis, which contaminated the drinking water for tens of thousands of people in southeastern North Carolina, could have been averted had the EPA simply done its job. The EPA Inspector General has found that a communication breakdown within the agency allowed DuPont, later Chemours, to discharge the toxic compound GenX into the Cape […]
This week’s top stories on NC Policy Watch
1. PW special report: News and commentary on surprise NC House veto override vote NC House overrides budget veto in surprise vote (Updated) In a surprise move that Democratic members loudly decried as treachery, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted 55-9 this morning to override Gov. Cooper’s veto of the state budget bill passed […]
Chemours throws DuPont under the bus, alleges company chose to discharge PFAS into the Cape Fear River
Spinoff company's bombshell court filings say DuPont used cutthroat methods to dodge costs of cleaning up dangerous chemicals DuPont could have permanently stopped discharging perfluorinated compounds – PFAS – from its Fayetteville Works plant into the Cape Fear River nine years ago, but decided against it in order to foist the liability onto a spinoff company, court documents allege.
15 years ago, a DEQ employee spoke up about groundwater contamination at DuPont. And nothing happened.
(Scroll down to read details of the consent order.) For state regulators, a 46-page consent order marks the end of a decades’- long shell game that Chemours/DuPont played with the Department of Environmental Quality over the company’s secret discharges and emissions of GenX and other perfluorinated compounds. But for some North Carolina residents who oppose […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]