In Historic Settlement, State Leaders Hold Polluters Accountable
Last week, top North Carolina state officials announced the settlement of claims for PFAS pollution against corporate polluters Chemours, DuPont, and Corteva for a total of $590 million, in a state record recovery for environmental damages.
What’s Included in the Settlement?
The largest part of the settlement, $380 million, will go to local communities directly affected by the pollution from the Fayetteville Works manufacturing plant: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Robeson and Sampson counties; Lumberton, Wrightsville Beach and Bald Head Island; and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority. The state will receive $75 million, including about $55 million for North Carolina’s Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund, which helps local governments detect and reduce contaminants in drinking water. Another $135 million will go into a separate reserve intended to protect future drinking water and cleanup work.
Polluters Held Accountable
“Chemours and DuPont devastated North Carolina’s water and natural resources for decades,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “This deal forces them to pay for the harm they caused the people of southeastern North Carolina, and gives our local governments more resources to help ensure clean drinking water for families. It is a massive step forward in giving our state more dollars to help fund clean water programs. This settlement puts even more teeth behind the consent order with NCDEQ. Chemours made this mess, and we’re making sure Chemours cleans it up.”
“This settlement is a huge victory for North Carolina,” said Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson. “These companies are finally paying for the damage they caused to North Carolina’s land and waters. While no amount of money can fully compensate North Carolinians for all the harm these companies have done to public health and the environment, this settlement not only provides funds to address PFAS contamination but also strengthens DEQ’s 2019 Consent Order with Chemours. The Order will continue to be one of DEQ’s most powerful tools to hold the company accountable and ensure that southeastern North Carolina residents have access to clean water and land.”
“We know that Chemours will only do the right thing when it’s forced to, so we’re grateful to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality for showing North Carolinians that they will hold Chemours’ feet to the fire to make sure we have clean drinking water,” said Dan Crawford, NCLCV’s senior director of public affairs.
Knowingly Polluting Our Drinking Water
“DuPont and Chemours knew they were dumping toxic forever chemicals into our drinking water, but they put their profits over our people – which is why I sued them in 2020,” added Governor Josh Stein. “I thank Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Secretary of Environmental Quality Reid Wilson for continuing to hold Chemours accountable. Now we must keep working to ensure all North Carolinians can count on clean water from their taps.”
“For years, Cumberland County residents have lived with the consequences of contamination they did not create,” said Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Kirk deViere. “Families who did nothing wrong have worried about what comes out of their tap. The lawsuit was about accountability. The settlement provides resources. The work ahead is about solutions. We will continue to use every resource to protect our communities, pursue additional state and federal support and build toward a permanent solution for clean, safe, regulated drinking water.”
A federal judge’s ruling in early September establishing the liability of the corporate defendants helped to pave the way for the settlements over the amounts of compensation owed. Had a deal on dollars not been reached, that question would have gone to a jury in a trial scheduled for March 2027.
State Leaders Deliver; EPA Fails
In late July, AG Jackson, Governor Stein, and DEQ Secretary Wilson released statements blasting the Trump EPA for its woefully inadequate national settlement for $90 million, which all said gave far too much away for far too little compensation – and did not guarantee a dime for impacted North Carolinians.
In contrast, the final agreed settlement in this case provides a meaningful level of compensation, carefully targeted to help the communities most impacted by the pollution. Those entities responsible for the pollution are paying to clean it up.
