Tests show some PFAS from Chemours plague drinking water for more than 500,000 North Carolinians

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tests commissioned by Cape Fear River Watch and the Southern Environmental Law Center showed extremely high levels of ultra-short chain PFAS released by Chemours into the drinking water supply for 500,000 North Carolinians—including people in Brunswick County, New Hanover County, and the city of Wilmington. SELC and Cape Fear River Watch are urging the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to require Chemours to stop its harmful ultra-short chain PFAS pollution.

“Communities in the Lower Cape Fear region have had their water supply contaminated for over forty years by Chemours. Our health and the health of the river have suffered enough,” said Kemp Burdette, Cape Fear Riverkeeper and executive director of Cape Fear River Watch. “Chemours can’t be allowed by DEQ to continue to prioritize its profits over the communities downstream of its discharge. And since Chemours won’t do this on their own, DEQ must require the company to remove these PFAS.”

Chemours’ ultra-short chain PFAS pollution—including trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and perfluoropropionic acid (PFPrA)—was found during independent sampling conducted by Cape Fear River Watch. TFA was detected at nearly 2,000 parts per trillion (ppt). These results confirm earlier tests results published by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington. Ultra-short chain PFAS are highly mobile, persistent, and notoriously difficult to remove once released by polluters, posing a serious challenge for downstream drinking water utilities and a health threat to people.

“It’s outrageous that Chemours is allowing its PFAS to pass straight through its facility—and into people’s drinking water yet again,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “With Chemours seeking a permit to keep polluting, while also asking for permission to expand its toxic chemical manufacturing, DEQ must hold Chemours accountable. After decades of toxic waste and hundreds of millions spent by communities to clean up the mess, the burden belongs squarely on Chemours and must not fall on North Carolina families.”

To date, utilities, including Brunswick County and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and their ratepayers, have already spent over 200 million dollars on treatment technologies to address Chemours’ PFAS pollution. The safest, most cost-effective way to address PFAS is for industrial polluters like Chemours to stop pollution at the source before it contaminates drinking water supplies.

In April 2025, Chemours applied for a wastewater discharge permit that would allow continued release of ultra-short chain PFAS from one of its outfalls. DEQ has not yet released a draft permit. Under the Clean Water Act, DEQ is required to evaluate Chemours’ ability to treat all pollutants using available technologies. DEQ has both the authority and the responsibility to require Chemours to propose treatment for these chemicals and to set enforceable limits in the permit to protect downstream communities.

For more than 40 years, Chemours has polluted the drinking water of over half a million residents in southeastern North Carolina. In addition to widespread contamination of public water systems, the company has contaminated more than 11,000 private wells across ten counties. Despite this legacy of pollution, Chemours is now seeking approval to expand PFAS production at its Fayetteville Works facility—a move that would likely worsen contamination across the region.

The Trump administration also announced plans to abandon limits on four PFAS, including GenX, and delay limits on two PFAS, PFOA and PFOS. In federal court, it recently dropped its defense of limiting the four PFAS chemicals in litigation brought by industrial polluters.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of thousands of man-made “forever chemicals” that persist in water, soil, and the human body, and are linked to serious health risks. These chemicals are not removed by conventional water treatment, making it critical to stop pollution at its source. Chemours’ PFAS have been found in North Carolina’s air, residents’ blood, household dust, fish, pets, and local produce.