NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson announces historic settlement with Chemours

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - North Carolina’s Attorney General announced Thursday the state has reached an historic settlement with Chemours.

Jeff Jackson says the company responsible for dumping toxic chemicals into the Cape Fear River for years will pay North Carolina nearly $600 million.

“It’s coming in right at $590 million and it’s designed to hold them accountable and to help clean up people’s drinking water. That’s the most important thing we can do,” Jackson said.

Jackson made the announcement at Battleship Park in Wilmington Thursday afternoon. Flanked by various area officials, he touted the settlement as the largest environmental damage recovery in state history.

“We want to send a message – not just to this company, but to any company that’s capable of doing this much damage to the state,” he said. “They knew what they were doing, they were dishonest about it, and now, they are facing serious accountability.”

The Chemours facility is located in Bladen County, along the Cape Fear River. Starting around 1980, the facility began polluting the river and air with forever chemicals, which have been linked to a variety of health issues, including different types of cancer. A study last year found high levels of PFAS in Wilmington residents’ blood.

“Everyone expects and deserves clean, healthy water when they turn on the tap,” NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson said. “No one should have to ask this question: is it safe for my kid to drink water out of this sink?”

Several North Carolina counties and towns will get the majority of the settlement, including New Hanover, Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus Counties, along with Wrightsville Beach, Bald Head Island and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.

About $380 million will go to the local governments, and $75 million will go to the state. The money will be paid out over the next 10-15 years, according to NCDOJ. Local governments will have discretion on how to spend the money, Jackson said.

“But that is to go to the PFAS cleanup fund, so we’re hoping that all gets spent where it needs to get spent downstream of this chemical plant,” Jackson said. “And then there’s a $135 million reserve fund so that if Chemours goes bankrupt, which they may, then Dupont will be on the hook for making sure that people have clean drinking water.”

New Hanover County will receive $22.8 million as part of the settlement. That money will go to providing clean drinking water and addressing contamination, starting with people relying on well water, Commissioner LeAnn Pierce said.

“It is a great day for New Hanover County,” Pierce said. “This settlement is an important step, but it is not the end. We will keep working to protect our water, support affected residents and hold polluters accountable.”

Jackson said while NCDOJ has thousands of cases on its plate, this one has always been a priority since he took office. He said hearing from many community members made clear this was an important issue to residents.

He added that the EPA’s recent settlement with Chemours, which he criticized for not helping North Carolina enough, reinforced the importance of securing a major settlement on the state’s end.

“Bottom line here: people deserve to have clean drinking water, and these companies deserve to be held accountable for the damage that they’ve done to our state. This settlement is a historic step on both of those counts,” he said.

In 2019, a consent order required Chemours to reduce its pollution and to sample private drinking water wells for PFAS and provide replacement water supplies to impacted residents. But Jackson says that did not speak to the years of damage caused by the company. He believes this settlement does.

“It’s hard to see something more important than clean drinking water for our state,” Jackson said. “We know 500,000 people live downstream of this chemical plant. That’s an incredible amount of damage and pollution. And we think it’s important to make sure they have to clean that up, but we also think it’s important that they should be held accountable for polluting it in the first place, which is what this is trying to do.”

Watch the press conference below: