<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Q8twH_1H0JEXAu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Q8twH_1H0JEXAu00" width="1200" height="900" ><figcaption>Chemours’ thermal oxidizer for reducing emissions is shown during construction in 2019. Photo: Chemours</figcaption></figure>State environmental regulators have ordered Chemours to revise its environmental remediation plan for southeastern North Carolina, saying the company has not sufficiently tested the extent of PFAS contamination in groundwater in the Lower Cape Fear region.In a Nov. 9 letter to Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant manager, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Deputy Secretary for Environment Sushma Masemore detailed what the department refers to as “significant deficiencies” in the company’s compliance with a 2019 consent order.DEQ’s Division of Air Quality also sent plant manager Seth Bailey a separate letter detailing concerns about the facility’s transparency, lab testing and data collection of its air emissions and listed off immediate actions the plant must take.“Today’s direction to the company makes clear that DEQ expects Chemours to clean up all the areas they have polluted,” DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson stated in a Monday release. “DEQ will hold Chemours accountable no matter how long it takes.”The department has ordered Chemours to “fully assess” soil and groundwater contamination and any associated human and environmental risks associated with that contamination throughout the Lower Cape Fear Region. The chemical manufacturing company must also revise its corrective action plan, or CAP, to restore contaminated groundwater, include all PFAS associated with its Fayetteville Works plant in the CAP, and analyze how remaining facility emissions affect groundwater and design a strategy to address those impacts.PFAS are man-made chemical compounds used to manufacture a host of consumer goods, including water-resistant apparel, stain-resistant carpet, nonstick cookware and food packaging. These perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they are persistent and virtually indestructible in the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency categorizes nearly 15,000 different PFAS.Some of the known human health effects of exposure to PFAS include weakened immunity, low birth weight in newborns, thyroid disease, and increased risk for certain types of cancer.Chemours has 60 days to address the deficiencies DEQ has identified. The company must respond to each of DEQ’s comments and submit a proposed timeline for addressing the issues to the department for review and approval.Chemours in 2019 agreed to a consent order with Cape Fear River Watch and DEQ after the public was first informed two years earlier that the company’s plant roughly 75 miles upstream of Wilmington had been discharging PFAS into the Cape Fear River, and into the ground and air for decades.The company has spent about $1.2 billion to reduce the plant’s PFAS emissions into the environment since a judge signed off on the order.The company built an underground barrier wall stretching more than a mile long at its Bladen County site to block contaminants from seeping from groundwater into the Cape Fear River. It has also installed several systems to treat contaminated stormwater and groundwater, and installed air pollution controls.Chemours has sampled more than 27,000 privately owned drinking water wells for PFAS, offered to install filtration systems in about 10,500 households with wells that have tested for levels of PFAS above regulatory thresholds and agreed to connect more homes to municipal water systems, according to DEQ.“While these initial measures were focused on preventing new contamination and providing clean drinking water to affected residents continues, the development and implementation of Chemours’ long-term cleanup plans has stalled,” DEQ officials said.DEQ’s orders come almost two months after the state, 11 local governments, DuPont and Chemours reached a $590 million settlement agreement, one DEQ officials say preserves the department’s full regulatory authority over the plant’s emissions and discharges.DEQ officials said in a release Monday that its directives to Chemours “is a major step forward in a process outlined” in the agreement.The agreement guarantees $455 million to be paid over the next 10 to 15 years to the state and local governments, including Brunswick and New Hanover counties, Wrightsville Beach, Village of Bald Head Island and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority. Roughly $5 million is expected to be funneled to the Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund the General Assembly created earlier this year.“The recent North Carolina settlement established a process for addressing our obligations under the Consent Order, and NCDEQ’s correspondence is the next step in that process,” a Chemours spokesperson said in an email responding to a request for comment. “With NCDEQ’s formal feedback to our 2019 Corrective Action Plan, On and Offsite Evaluation, and Risk Assessment now in hand, we can move forward. We are reviewing NCDEQ’s comments in detail and will respond through the established process.”Less than two weeks after the settlement was announced, Cape Fear River Watch notified DEQ that Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant continued to exceed emission and discharge limits established under the consent order.The Southern Environmental Law Center on Sept. 23 sent a letter to Chemours and DEQ officials on behalf of the Wilmington-based environmental organization arguing that the company had failed to develop and implement corrective action plans to remediate ground water contamination. The SELC also said that the Chemours had not cut down on its PFAS discharges into local waterways, including the Cape Fear River, and its air emissions under terms set forth in the consent order.In a response to a request for comment on Tuesday, SELC Senior Attorney Jean Zhuang stated that DEQ’s Nov. 9 notice to Chemours, “makes one thing clear: Chemours can no longer delay, deny, or do the bare minimum.”“DEQ has rightly recognized that the company’s response to widespread PFAS contamination has fallen short and is now demanding the rigorous investigation and cleanup that affected communities deserve.”</div></body>

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State environmental regulators have ordered Chemours to revise its environmental remediation plan for southeastern North Carolina, saying the company has not sufficiently tested the extent of PFAS contamination in groundwater in the Lower Cape Fear region. In a Nov. 9 letter to Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant manager, N.C. Department of...

Regulators order Chemours to ‘fully assess’ contamination

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State environmental regulators have ordered Chemours to revise its environmental remediation plan for southeastern North Carolina, saying the company has n

Regulators order Chemours to ‘fully assess’ contamination

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