SELC objects to Chemours and DuPont hiding information about their toxic PFAS pollution

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The Southern Environmental Law Center today filed in federal court seeking to object to an attempt by Chemours and DuPont to hide thousands of pages of documents related to their toxic forever chemical pollution from the Fayetteville Works chemical manufacturing facility that contaminated the drinking water source for more than 500,000 North Carolinians. The companies wish to conceal up to 21,000 pages of information on their pollution, including sampling data, air and wastewater treatment options, toxicology research, and information on people’s exposure to their toxic chemicals, in litigation brought by downstream drinking water utilities.

“After intentionally hiding their toxic PFAS pollution for decades, Chemours and DuPont now want to conceal essential information that directly affects the lives of half-a-million people,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “And Chemours has the audacity to try to hide thousands of pages of information as the company plans to expand its PFAS manufacturing operations. After defiling these communities’ drinking water, air, soil, and food for years, Chemours has no right to hide information about its toxic pollution yet ask the public to trust that it won’t harm North Carolina families again.”

Chemours’ Fayetteville site polluted the drinking water across at least eight North Carolina counties, including for people in city of Wilmington and New Hanover, Pender, Brunswick, Sampson, Cumberland, Bladen, Robeson, and Columbus counties. SELC filed the motion on behalf of Cape Fear River Watch, Environmental Justice Community Action Network, and North Carolina Coastal Federation.

Drinking water utilities, including the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, Lower Cape Fear Water & Sewer Authority, and those for Brunswick County and the Town of Wrightsville Beach, sued Chemours and DuPont for the harm that the companies caused to their treatment systems and for the hundreds of millions of dollars some of them have had to spend on technologies to remove PFAS.

At the same time the companies are seeking to hide critical documents, Chemours is planning to construct a large expansion of its facility—an expansion that will likely increase PFAS pollution across southeastern North Carolina. The company has plowed forward with its plans despite public outcry since its announcement in 2022.

On March 10, 2025, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality directed Chemours to significantly expand its sampling for contaminated private wells. Chemours must now sample parts of Harnett and Hoke counties, in addition to the eight counties where thousands of polluted private wells have already been found. Because of the broad extent of the company’s contamination, Chemours must now also sample the drinking water wells for about 150,000 homes.

On behalf of Cape Fear River Watch, the Southern Environmental Law Center sued Chemours for violating the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act in 2018. This and other litigation resulted in a Consent Order between Cape Fear River Watch, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Chemours, which requires Chemours to control PFAS pollution coming from its site. A timeline of the contamination discovery, litigation and consent order can be found here.

PFAS are a class of thousands of man-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 to keep them out of drinking water sources. 

Studies conducted over the past few years have confirmed that Chemours’ PFAS chemicals have been found in the air that North Carolinians are breathing, in residents’ blood, the dust in people’s homes, fish that communities eat, domestic pets, and local food products (such as berries, squash, tomatoes, and lettuce).  As new research and sampling data is revealed each year, people continue to learn more about both the scope of Chemours’ and DuPont’s contamination and the severity of its harm.