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Chemours, a chemical company that’s notorious for leaking toxic “forever chemicals” into the Cape Fear River, is still discharging PFAS at higher than allowed levels, the company’s own water sampling data reveals.
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The Southern Environmental Law Center says the ongoing discharges violate a 2019 agreement that Chemours struck with North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality. That agreement required the company to reduce chemical discharges into rivers, groundwater and air.
“We demand that N.C. DEQ use its authority to hold Chemours accountable and force the company to protect people’s health and the environment,” said Kemp Burdette, head of the Cape Fear River Watch, in a Wednesday press release. “If the state fails to protect its citizens, and chooses to protect Chemours instead, we’ll go back to court.”
DEQ spokesperson Allan Holmes said in a statement that the department “remains committed to holding Chemours accountable for all remaining obligations under the Consent Order.”
Chemours spokesperson Jess Loizeaux told The N&O that the company does not agree with the Southern Environmental Law Center’s allegations, and maintains it has not violated the consent order.
“Chemours has taken significant actions in implementing the Consent Order, including installing advanced emissions controls and abatement technologies, water treatment and remediation systems, monitoring programs and replacement drinking water supplies,” Loizeaux said in a statement. “Because this matter may become the subject of legal proceedings, we are unable to comment on specific allegations at this time.”
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are a family of human-made chemicals that do not break down easily, and can remain in the environment for thousands of years. Over time, PFAS exposure can cause higher rates of cancer, lower fertility rates, and can weaken the immune system.
Chemours knowingly dumped PFAS from its Fayetteville plant into the Cape Fear River for decades and was aware of its harmful health impacts for humans, The Wilmington Star-News revealed in 2017. Since then, North Carolina authorities have pursued litigation against the company, hoping to make it pay for the damage to drinking water systems across the state.
In a letter sent to Chemours and DEQ officials on Wednesday, attorneys from the SELC said publicly available results from PFAS testing showed Chemours has still not met several goals from the 2019 consent order with DEQ.
For example, Chemours agreed to reduce the amount of PFAS that was reaching certain groundwater wells by 93% compared to the first year of testing. Testing data compiled by Geosyntec, a consulting group, shows that one of the groundwater wells only detected a 37% decrease in PFAS between 2019 and the first three months of 2026.
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Geosyntec also found earlier this year that Chemours was discharging PFAS into Willis Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River, at about half the levels of the discharges from before 2019. Chemours’ agreement with the state required it to reduce these discharges by at least 75%.
“Today, contaminated groundwater discharging to Willis Creek is the leading source of PFAS entering the Cape Fear River from the Fayetteville Works facility,” Wednesday’s letter from the SELC reads.
While Geosyntec’s quarterly reports have shown that Chemours was meeting many terms of the consent order in previous years, its report from early 2026 shows PFAS discharges far above the allowable limits in several locations.
SELC’s letter also asserts that Chemours hasn’t reduced air emissions of GenX, another type of PFAS, by 93% as required in the consent order. Testing data from 2024 shows that Chemours had reduced GenX emissions on average by only 54.5%.
The letter comes just weeks after North Carolina leaders announced a new settlement with Chemours, in which the chemical company and two others will pay a total of $590 million in remediation costs to local authorities in the Cape Fear River basin. As part of that settlement, DEQ officials agreed to go over the 2019 consent order and identify which parts of it Chemours is still not compliant with.
The state’s recent settlement determined that Chemours had fulfilled a few obligations from the consent order.
However, Holmes said the settlement also strengthens the consent order “by establishing a reserve fund to continue the work under the Consent Order should Chemours be financially unable to do so,” and “by reinforcing that NCDEQ will continue to enforce the remaining obligations under the consent order and establishing a process to expedite Chemours addressing some of the more significant remaining long-term obligations.”
“The coming months will show whether DEQ is willing to fully enforce the Consent Order against Chemours,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.
This story is available free to all readers thanks to financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider a digital subscription, which you can get here.
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This story was originally published September 23, 2026 at 12:10 PM.