State leaders today announced a historic $590 million settlement with chemical giants DuPont and Chemours over toxic PFAS contamination in North Carolina, marking the largest total environmental damages recovery in the state’s history.
Combined with a 2019 consent order that forced Chemours to spend nearly $1.2 billion to halt discharges from its Fayetteville Works facility, state and local governments have now recovered nearly $2 billion in total value to address the pollution.
The agreement secures Chemours’ obligations to provide clean drinking water and repair the environmental damage done to southeastern North Carolina.
State leaders call out federal inaction
Attorney General Jeff Jackson said North Carolina was forced to take independent action after federal regulators failed to properly penalize the companies.
"For years, a chemical plant near Fayetteville released PFAS into the air and water," Jackson said. "That plant was owned by DuPont and then Chemours and half a million people lived downstream. We were hoping that the EPA would take this seriously, but they failed. A few months ago, they announced a slap on the wrist for these companies and that was completely unacceptable. We knew that we had to take the lead."
Jackson noted that the state's legal strategy paid off heavily compared to federal efforts.
"Now we have a settlement worth nearly $600 million, which is at least 20 times what the EPA got for us, and it's paid for by the companies that did the polluting," Jackson said. "This will be nearly $600 million for North Carolina to help keep our drinking water clean and hold accountable the companies who polluted it. This is about PFAS, the forever chemicals that contaminated drinking water across a large part of our state."
Funding headed to hardest-hit communities
The agreement guarantees $455 million to the state and 11 local governments that joined the lawsuit, to be paid over the next 10 to 15 years.
Jackson emphasized that the state prioritized getting the funds to local municipalities on the front lines of the crisis.
"The vast majority of that payment will go directly to the towns, cities, and counties that have had to deal with this for years," Jackson said. "It was very important to us that the people who were the most affected should get most of the money."
The distribution of the $455 million includes:
- $380 million divided among 11 local governments affected by Fayetteville Works’ pollution that previously sued the chemical companies.
- $75 million allocated directly to the state.
- $55 million (out of the state's portion) directed to the General Assembly's newly created Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund to support local detection and reduction efforts.
Office of the North Carolina Attorney GeneralThe Cape Fear River provides drinking water to more than 500,000 residents of southeastern North Carolina who live downstream of the Fayetteville Works facility.
Strengthening enforcement and next steps
Southeastern North Carolina communities have spent years dealing with the fallout of the contamination. Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Kirk deViere noted that families have long worried about the safety of their tap water.
"The lawsuit was about accountability. The settlement provides resources. The work ahead is about solutions," deViere said.
While officials acknowledge that no amount of money can undo decades of public health and environmental harm, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson said the settlement strengthens the state's existing regulatory tools. The agreement puts more teeth behind the 2019 Consent Order, which remains one of DEQ's most powerful mechanisms to hold Chemours accountable.
Governor Josh Stein, who initially filed the lawsuit against the companies in 2020, praised the resolution but stressed that the work is not finished. "Now we must keep working to ensure all North Carolinians can count on clean water from their taps," Stein said.
