This week, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP), U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and announced a proposed settlement with the chemical company Chemours valued at more than $450M to address alleged releases of PFAS from facilities in West Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey. The agreement includes a $22.5M civil penalty along with investments in pollution controls, drinking water protection, and environmental compliance measures.
The agreement includes an estimated $60M for new PFAS pollution controls at Chemours’ Washington Works facility in West Virginia and approximately $280M to provide clean drinking water and monitoring for communities near facilities in West Virginia and New Jersey. In addition, Chemours will implement 14 projects to reduce PFAS releases from wastewater, stormwater, and groundwater at the West Virginia site.
Chemours will also undertake actions to reduce PFAS and other chemical releases from its North Carolina operations and implement measures to control emissions and discharges across affected facilities.
EPA announced that the agreement aims to reduce future contamination while allowing continued manufacturing operations under enhanced environmental controls.
The proposed consent decree is subject to public review and comment before it can be finalized. The full complaint and proposed settlement agreement are available on the Justice Department’s Proposed Consent Decree webpage. More information on the settlement is also available on EPA’s Chemours Settlement Summary website.
