Advocacy

Soon after the discovery went public, Chemours announced they would voluntarily stop discharging GenX in to the river, which was encouraging. But, it also raised questions. Why stop a discharge that company officials assured the public was safe? And, if it was so easy, why hadn’t the company done this from the beginning, especially given the 16 reports they filed under the Toxic Substance Control Act, acknowledging the strong potential for significant impacts on human health related to GenX?

Then, we learned that GenX was just a small portion of the toxic chemicals being discharged from that facility. It was a whole class of chemicals, termed PFAS (or per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances) that had been released from the facility for decades. PFAS are used to make Teflon pans; they are used in food packaging, rain gear, Scotchguard, firefighting foam – even in dental floss. They are persistent in the environment. They are persistent in our bodies. They are toxic. And they are everywhere.

Even though the company began capturing and shipping off site the water used in processing PFAS, it was still seeping into the groundwater and it was still flowing into the river through onsite seeps and creeks via runoff from the contaminated sight. We then learned PFAS was airborne. The chemicals had been released through air stacks and contaminated the groundwater of hundreds of residential and community service wells surrounding the plant.

Cape Fear River Watch sued the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for not taking swifter and stronger action, and we sued the polluter, Chemours for violations of the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act. The result was a Consent Order, signed February 25, 2019 by Cape Fear River Watch, NC Department of Environmental Quality, and Chemours.

Since we found out about this issue, CFRW has been dedicated to stopping pollution at the source, and holding the polluter accountable, effecting change at the regulatory and legislative levels, and educating, engaging and supporting our community. Our executive director Dana Sargent, and Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette were founding members of a community group called Clean Cape Fear, which, along with Cape Fear River Watch hosted numerous events that first year. Dana also created the Clean Cape Fear website, which included building a comprehensive historical timeline supported by, among other things, a deep dive into the state’s water resources archives, and writing a daily blog post. In 2018, Cape Fear River Watch needed to distance our staff from Clean Cape Fear as they worked to support candidates for public office (a vital aspect of this work but one that we, as a 501c3 nonprofit, cannot be involved with). The timeline and blog remain on the CCF website, which has been updated and is a great source of information on this issue. We are grateful for CCF’s ongoing work on this issue.

Along with our daily work to ensure that Chemours is upholding its requirements under the Consent Order, we support our partners in research including, among other work, the GenX Exposure Study and studies of PFAS in our fish and alligators. We work with our amazing environmental nonprofits across the state on advocacy of PFAS through meetings, public comment, and community engagement. For the last two years, we have provided much-needed communications and support including sampling – to private well owners in the Lower Cape Fear and continue to hammer the DEQ to do more for well owners. With partners at the Center for Environmental Health, Toxic Free NC and Clean Cape Fear, we have sued the EPA to require Chemours fund health and toxicity studies on PFAS. We have intervened in Chemours’ petition to review EPAs Health Advisory Level for GenX; (they did this because the level of 10 ppt is costing them millions of dollars in enforcing the private well filtration requirements under the Consent Order!) We have submitted and signed on to numerous written comments, along with in-person comments on state and federal hearings on PFAS and other community events. We regularly host and support events and provide presentations on PFAS to our community. We are grateful for our amazing NC partners in academia and nonprofits in battling Chemours and this issue, and effecting regulatory and legislative change.

Click here to read much more about the history of this issue and CFRW’s response!