Chemours Agrees $450 Million PFAS Settlement as U.S. Lets Production Continue
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 24
Chemours Agrees $450 Million PFAS Settlement as U.S. Lets Production Continue
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 24
Summary
$450 million in penalties and cleanup commitments will resolve federal and multi-state claims that Chemours illegally discharged PFAS for more than a decade in West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.
The consent decree includes a $22.5 million civil penalty, $90 million over 15 years to mitigate discharges, about $60 million for pollution controls at its West Virginia plant, and roughly $280 million to provide clean drinking water near West Virginia and New Jersey sites.
Federal officials said the deal is the first U.S. enforcement settlement with a PFAS manufacturer and lets Chemours keep making the chemicals for commercial and military uses while requiring 14 treatment systems and other controls.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson called the agreement "an insult," saying it does little for GenX contamination in eastern North Carolina; the settlement also leaves DuPont's past PFAS liability unresolved.
The deal lands as the Trump administration is expected to soften parts of Biden-era PFAS drinking-water limits, underscoring its effort to pair tougher enforcement on polluters with looser national standards.