Chemours agrees to $450M settlement over PFAS pollution at four facilities

The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency, and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced a multi-state settlement with The Chemours Company over pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — synthetic “forever chemicals” — at four facilities in West Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey, the agencies said.

The agreement, described by officials as the first comprehensive federal settlement against a manufacturer of PFAS, requires Chemours to pay a $22.5 million civil penalty and fund more than $425 million in mitigation measures, pollution controls, drinking water programs and other injunctive relief, bringing the total estimated cost to exceed $450 million, according to the Justice Department.

Under the consent decree, Chemours will fund a $90 million multi-year program to mitigate PFAS discharges, install pollution controls for surface water and air emissions at its West Virginia plant at an estimated cost of $60 million, and supply clean drinking water for more than a decade to communities near its West Virginia and New Jersey facilities at an estimated cost of $280 million, the agencies said. The North Carolina facility will be required to evaluate options and implement controls to reduce releases of PFAS and other toxic chemicals based on recommendations from a third-party engineering firm.

The complaint alleges that three of the four Chemours facilities discharged PFAS into the Ohio River, Cape Fear River and Delaware River in violation of permits required under the Clean Water Act and the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act, and that Chemours allegedly was not complying with Toxic Substances Control Act requirements at all four facilities for more than a decade, according to the Justice Department. The settlement was reached under the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Toxic Substances Control Act and West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act. The facilities were previously owned by DuPont, and the settlement does not resolve DuPont’s separate liability.

“This first comprehensive federal settlement against a major PFAS manufacturer delivers on the Trump Administration’s promise to make polluters pay and stop PFAS contamination at the source,” said Jeffrey A. Hall, EPA’s assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance.

Among the specific remedies, Chemours must control releases of the chemical compound GenX — used to aid in the manufacture of fluoropolymer plastics — at an efficiency of at least 99% at each facility and implement enhanced leak detection and repair programs to reduce PFAS air emissions, the agencies said. Chemours also will test drinking water and provide treated or alternative clean water, where necessary, for communities near its West Virginia and New Jersey facilities. The programs will run for 15 years.

The consent decree also requires Chemours to undertake 14 specified projects to reduce PFAS in wastewater, stormwater and groundwater from its West Virginia plant and to certify compliance with hazardous-waste storage requirements.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who previously investigated Chemours as state attorney general, called the agreement “an encouraging first step” but said it addressed “only one piece of a much larger issue,” adding that discussions over a more comprehensive resolution for the state’s Washington Works facility are ongoing.

The consent decree was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and is subject to a public comment period.