Federal government settlement with Chemours is a negotiated outcome to shield from real accountability, says SELC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The Southern Environmental Law Center issued the following statement by Jean Zhuang, senior attorney, regarding the settlement announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice, EPA, and West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection with Chemours related to its PFAS pollution from its facilities in North Carolina, New Jersey, and West Virginia. In 2018, SELC litigated against Chemours in North Carolina to stop its PFAS pollution of the Cape Fear River and drinking water for about 500,000 people. 

“This settlement is not meaningful enforcement by the federal government—it is a negotiated outcome that appears designed to shield Chemours from real accountability. The Department of Justice has wrapped a sweeping set of allegations involving drinking water contamination affecting millions of Americans into a resolution that largely asks the company to monitor itself and develop plans, while surrendering its claims tied to contamination from multiple facilities across multiple states.

“The result is extraordinarily weak: minimal penalties, limited obligations, and a rationale that stronger consequences are off the table because this multi-billion-dollar company has “limited ability to pay”—leaving the public to bear the cost of widespread contamination.

“The broader context makes this outcome even more troubling. At the same time DOJ is resolving its litigation on such lenient terms, Chemours is actively challenging federal PFAS drinking water standards in court, seeking a massive expansion of its North Carolina facility, and continuing to release extremely high concentrations of ultra‑short‑chain PFAS—chemicals it knows are likely ending up in drinking water for roughly half a million North Carolinians. This administration and Chemours are flatly abandoning the public—trading away accountability while families and communities are left to absorb the damage.”

Despite its toxic contamination, EPA Administrator Zeldin recently selected two Chemours executives to be on EPA’s Science Advisory Board. Chemours and other industry groups are seeking to overturn drinking water limits for six PFAS, including GenX, in court to avoid financial responsibility for the costs of water treatment—costs that utilities are incurring largely because of PFAS contamination caused by industrial discharges into people’s drinking water sources.

PFAS are a class of thousands of human-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, and GenX, and are associated with serious health harms. These contaminants are known as forever chemicals—they do not dissipate, dissolve, or degrade but stay in water, soil, and our bodies. PFAS are not removed by conventional water treatment, so it is critical that industries like Chemours treat for them to keep them out of drinking water sources in the first place.