North Carolina reaches $590 million PFAS settlement with DuPont and Chemours
The agreement guarantees payments to the state and 11 local governments while establishing a reserve intended to support Chemours’ continuing cleanup obligations.
RALEIGH — North Carolina, 11 local governments and chemical manufacturers DuPont and Chemours have reached a $590 million agreement resolving public claims arising from PFAS contamination linked to the Fayetteville Works facility.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson announced the agreement Thursday, describing it as the largest environmental-damages recovery in state history.
The agreement guarantees $455 million in payments to the state and participating local governments over 10 to 15 years. The settlement also establishes a $135 million reserve funded by DuPont and Corteva to support Chemours’ continuing obligations under a 2019 consent order.
Of the guaranteed payments, $75 million is designated for the state. Approximately $55 million of that amount will go to an Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund created by the General Assembly to support local efforts to detect and reduce contaminants in drinking water.
The remaining $380 million will be divided among Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Robeson and Sampson counties; the cities or towns of Lumberton, Wrightsville Beach and Bald Head Island; and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.
The reserve fund is intended to protect the continuation of drinking-water and remediation work if Chemours becomes unable to pay its obligations. The settlement does not replace the 2019 consent order, and DEQ retains responsibility for enforcing the company’s remaining requirements.
Under that order, Chemours has installed systems to treat contaminated groundwater and stormwater, constructed a subsurface barrier wall and provided or offered drinking-water assistance to affected households. According to the state, approximately 27,500 residential wells have been sampled and about 10,500 families have been offered filtration systems or another source of clean water.
The state said Chemours has spent nearly $1.2 billion complying with the consent order. When combined with the new agreement, state and local officials value the recoveries and required work at nearly $2 billion.
The settlement does not resolve a separate case filed by Cape Fear Public Utility Authority or six other cases Jackson is pursuing against manufacturers of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
The agreement remains subject to the terms and procedures contained in the executed settlement document.
Editor’s note:
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
