Gov. Stein and AG Jackson Denounce EPA-Chemours Backroom PFAS Deal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
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RALEIGH - Today, Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson denounced a proposed deal between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Chemours to settle claims of PFAS contamination from Chemours' North Carolina, New Jersey, and West Virginia facilities. The EPA and Chemours reached this deal without consulting the North Carolina Attorney General's Office or the Department of Environmental Quality. Under the reported terms of the deal announced today, West Virginia would receive almost all of the relief, leaving virtually nothing for North Carolina.

Chemours will pay up to $90 million over 15 years to fund water cleanup and clean drinking water projects. Chemours will get to propose the projects it will fund, without any input from North Carolina or its residents. If any of the states require Chemours to do any additional PFAS cleanup or mitigation, the money that Chemours spends can get credited against this $90 million pool. Chemours doesn't have to make any commitments to spending any of this money in North Carolina. Even if Chemours does choose to split the money evenly among the three states, only about $2 million per year would be spent to address water pollution in North Carolina.

"This deal does nothing meaningful for North Carolinians," said Gov. Josh Stein. "This EPA, which has already weakened protections against chemicals like GenX, is now allowing polluters to pick and choose how and where they'll fix their contamination - leaving North Carolina with no guarantees."

"Fortunately, over the last few years, North Carolina has fought for and won measures that will help keep people safe. We will continue working to hold DuPont and Chemours accountable for the mess they made and ensure North Carolinians can trust the water coming out of their tap."

"This deal is an insult to the people of eastern North Carolina," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "Our state is ground zero for GenX contamination, but this deal does practically nothing to clean up our water. Chemours made this mess, and Chemours should clean it up. The EPA will be hearing from my office."

Chemours, and its predecessor company, DuPont, have been operating their chemical plant in North Carolina since the 1970s. For decades, companies have been emitting GenX and other PFAS into the air and discharging these chemicals into the Cape Fear River - which provides drinking water to at least 500,000 eastern North Carolinians who live downstream of the facility. PFAS contamination poses serious public health risks. These forever chemicals don't degrade. Instead, they accumulate in the body through water, soil, and air contamination. PFAS exposure has been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, liver damage, and birth defects.

In 2019, the North Carolina Division of Environmental Quality reached a milestone settlement with Chemours that requires the company to control air emissions of GenX and other PFAS, provide filtration systems to residents with contaminated drinking water wells, reduce PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River, and overall address all sources of chemical contamination at the facility to prevent further harm to air, soil, groundwater, and surface waters. DEQ also required the company to pay a $12 million penalty - the largest environmental civil penalty in our state's history. DEQ continues to enforce the settlement to this day.

Attorney General Jackson and the Department of Justice are currently litigating cases against DuPont, Chemours, and their affiliated corporate entities to ensure the state is compensated for the profound damage these companies have done to the state's natural resources. He is also litigating six additional lawsuits against 14 companies, including DuPont and Chemours, that manufacture AFFF, a fire suppressant used by first responders that contains PFAS.

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