DEQ-CFW_00079289

Michael S. Regan, Secretary
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Release: PdMEDIATE Contact: Jamie Kritzer
Date: June 27, 2017 Phone: [phone]
DEQ verifies Chemours has stopped discharging GenX wastewater
Site visit to Chemours part of ongoing state investigation
RALEIGH — Staff with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality today inspected Chemours' Fayetteville facility
and verified that the company is containing wastewater from the byproduct GenX, preventing the unregulated chemical
compound from discharging into the Cape Fear River.
DEQ officials verified during an on -site inspection Tuesday that Chemours is redirecting the wastewater from the GenX
process into temporary storage tanks at the Fayetteville facility so it can be moved off -site for disposal. Chemours officials
told state DEQ officials that the company shipped one tank of wastewater from the process to an Arkansas commercial
incinerator for a trial bum on June 22 and that the company is making arrangements to move and incinerate the waste
collected from the process.
"We are holding Chemours accountable for containing the chemical compound as we continue to investigate the presence
of GenX in the Cape Fear River," said Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. "While
we have verified that Chemours is no longer discharging GenX into the Cape Fear River, we are continuing to work to
better understand this unregulated compound, how much of it is in the river, and its potential impacts."
The site visit is part of an ongoing state investigation. DEQ, in consultation with the N.C. Department of Health and
Human Services, are looking into reports of an unregulated chemical known as GenX in the lower Cape Fear
River. Chemours produces GenX at its facility in Fayetteville and previously discharged wastewater from the process into
the Cape Fear.
In response to requests from DEQ, local officials and residents, Chemours announced on June 20 the company would
capture, remove and safely dispose of wastewater containing the byproduct GenX instead of releasing it into the Cape Fear.
As part of its investigation, DEQ officials are collecting water samples at 12 locations in the Cape Fear River near
Chemours' Fayetteville facility and downstream at the Wilmington area's water system intakes, finished water and
groundwater wells serving the lower Cape Fear region. The first water samples were collected June 19 in the Fayetteville
region and June 22 in the Wilmington region. DEQ officials repeated the same water collection process this week, with
samples collected in the Fayetteville region on June 26 and scheduled for collection in the Wilmington region on June 29.
DEQ plans to repeat sampling again on July 3 and 6.
The water samples collected by DEQ are being analyzed by two independent laboratories, a certified facility in Colorado
and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in the Research Triangle Park. The water samples collected by DEQ on
June 19 and June 22 arrived last week at the Colorado and EPA labs.
Once lab analysis is complete, results will be reviewed by state officials with DEQ and DHHS and made available to the
public. Results are expected to be available about a month from the time the samples arrive at the labs. Collecting and
analyzing multiple samples is essential to develop a comprehensive understanding of conditions and further evaluate
potential health impacts.
For the latest information on what DEQ and DHHS are doing to address this issue, please visit DEQ's web page devoted to
GenX, https:Hdeq.nc.gov/news/hot-topics/genx-investigation.
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DEQ-CFW-00079289