NC Was Left Out of a $450M PFAS Settlement Covering Its Own Water
The EPA and Chemours reached a $450 million settlement last month over decades of PFAS contamination along the Cape Fear River, but North Carolina was not at the table. Now NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson is asking residents to weigh in before a federal court approves the deal.
Chemours, spun off from DuPont, has operated a chemical plant near Fayetteville on the Cape Fear River for over 30 years. In 2017, scientists discovered the plant had been releasing GenX and other PFAS compounds into the river, contaminating drinking water, soil, and groundwater across the region. More than 2,600 North Carolina residents sued the company for dropping property values, health harms, and loss of use of their land and water.
$2 million The maximum North Carolina could receive annually from the settlement, if Chemours split its $90 million cleanup fund evenly across the three affected states.
That $90 million cleanup fund covers water mitigation work across North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Jersey over 15 years. The bulk of the $450 million would fund projects outside North Carolina. Chemours also gets to propose which projects it funds, with no required input from the state.
The deal is lopsided in another way. Neither the NC Department of Justice nor the NC Department of Environmental Quality participated in the negotiations.
“This deal was negotiated behind closed doors without anyone from North Carolina at the table, and it guarantees our state nothing.”
AG Jeff Jackson, North Carolina, July 2026
The settlement still requires federal court approval. The public comment window is open now, and it closes July 29, 2026. Jackson’s office has made clear it intends to file formal objections and wants the federal government to hear from affected residents directly.
The 2,600-plus plaintiffs who sued Chemours would lose their right to their day in court if this deal moves forward as written.
What You Can Do Now
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Submit a public comment to the DOJ by July 29. Email [email protected]. Put “The Chemours Company, D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-12112” in the subject line. Say you oppose the settlement because it excludes North Carolina from negotiations and offers no guaranteed cleanup funding for Cape Fear River communities.
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Call AG Jeff Jackson’s office at (919) 716-6400 and tell them you support the state’s formal objection to the settlement. Ask his office to demand NC DEQ and DOJ be included in any renegotiated terms.
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Contact NC Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to publicly oppose the EPA’s settlement and call for a renegotiation that includes North Carolina at the table. Cape Fear communities have waited over nine years since GenX contamination was discovered in 2017.
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Find your federal court district representative at uscourts.gov and file your comment with the court record directly, since the settlement requires judicial approval before it takes effect.
Sources
NC Newsline: NC AG Jackson Calls on Residents to Weigh In on Chemours PFAS Deal
Cape Fear River Watch: GenX and PFAS Contamination History
EPA: PFAS Explained and Regulatory Background
KFF: Health Effects of PFAS Exposure in Drinking Water Communities