Chemours expansion plans infuriate environmentalists

By Greg Barnes | City View | September 12, 2022

Read the full article by Greg Barnes (City View)

“North Carolina environmental groups are outraged over the Chemours chemical corporation’s plans to expand its Fayetteville Works plant in Bladen County.

Chemours announced in a statement Tuesday that it will hold two public information sessions on plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities at the plant, which sits just over the Cumberland County line.

The planned expansion would ‘support an increase in domestic production in the semiconductor, transportation, clean energy, consumer electronics, and communications industries,’ according to the statement.

Little more is known about the expansion plans because the company said it will not provide interviews before the public sessions.

Chemours has been under a consent order since 2019 to clean up decades of per- and polyfluoroalkyl contamination — also known as PFAS or forever chemicals — that have been emitted from the plant into the air and the Cape Fear River. The contamination has affected thousands of people from Cumberland County to the coast. Many will no longer drink the tap water from their homes without filtration.

‘Chemours’ decision to propose this plan when so many still lack safe drinking water due to its reckless handling of toxic chemicals shows where its priorities lie,’ Geoff Gisler, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in an email.” …

This content provided by the PFAS Project.