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RALEIGH - State officials ordered Chemours on Tuesday to stop releasing fluorinated
compounds to the Cape Fear River from its Fayetteville facility and comply with the state's
other demands or face the suspension of a key environmental permit the company needs to
operate.
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"We've put Chemours on notice," said Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. Department of
Environmental Quality. O. top priority is to protect the drinking water for those citizens in
the lower Cape Fear. We have sufficient evidence showing that the company has not been
providing adequate disclosure of GenX or other chemical compounds in its permit, and we
are prepared to suspend Chemours wastewater discharge permit if the company continues
fang to meet our demands. Chemours must stop the release of the Nafion byproducts and
other fluorinated compounds, and fully disclose all chemical compounds in the company's
iv,gst-e stregit."
Since June, DEQ and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services have been
investigating the presence of GenX, a chemical compound made at Chemours' Fayetteville
Works facility. As part of its investigation, the state is conducting ongoing water testing at
multiple locations in the Lower Cape Fear and in groundwater on the facility's property in
Bladen County.
The state's investigation and pressure from citizens and local officials prompted Chemours
to stop discharging GenX to the Cape Fear from its Fayetteville facility in June. Then, last
week, DEQ also demanded that Chemours stop the release of additional chemical
compounds, including the Nafion byproducts, on the same day the EPA issued a final report
showing those other compounds had been detected in the facility's waste stream. Little
information is known about the potential human health effects of GenX or the Nafion
byproducts.
Tuesday's letter from DEQ gives Chemours 60 days to comply with the state's demands or
face the suspension of the company's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit.
However, the letter also calls on the company to meet several earlier deadlines. By Sept. 8,
the company must prevent the discharge of any chemicals related to GenX, including the
Nafion byproducts, and provide complete responses to demands DEQ has made for
information about the chemicals included in the Fayetteville facility's waste stream. By Oct.
20, Chemours must prevent the discharge of any other perfluorinated or polyfluorinated
compounds without a wastewater discharge limit, the letter demands.
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"There is sufficient cause to suspend the permit under the provisions cited in this letter," the
letter states. "We have found no evidence in the permit file indicating that DuPont or
Chemours disclosed the discharge of GenX compounds at the Fayetteville Works. In
particular, the permit renewal applications submitted to DEQ contain no reference to "GenX"
or to any chemical name, formula, or CAS number that would identify any GenX compounds
in the discharge."
Tuesday's civil court filing reinforces the demands made in DEQ's letter. The civil action
states that Chemours must take all steps necessary to eliminate any ongoing release into
waters of the state of any perflourinated compounds (Chemours) produced." The civil filing
also calls on Chemours to provide DEQ with all information the state agency has demanded
in letters it has issued to Chemours this summer.
The civil filing states that DEQ"has cause to believe that Chemours has violated or is
threatening to violate provisions" of state law.
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