By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. (6/12/2018) — The state Department of Environmental Quality stepped up its enforcement effort against Chemours again Monday, asking a judge to make the chemical company cut its GenX emissions 97 percent by the end of August.
That would speed up the facility’s timetable significantly. Company officials have said they’re installing equipment that will lower air emissions at their Bladen County facility by 70 percent by October. They promise to capture 99 percent of the compound within 24 months but also say that GenX, which hasn’t been fully studied, isn’t harmful in the amounts often found in area drinking water.
It’s unclear whether the company can meet the state’s new timetable without shutting down its production line. DEQ spokeswoman Bridget Munger said it’s the company’s responsibility to determine how to achieve the goal.
There are 70 workers on this particular line at the plan, according to plant manager Brian Long. The entire facility has 700 workers, making it one of Bladen County’s largest employers.
The requested mandate becomes part of DEQ’s case against the company, and the department said it will ask for a hearing to have a judge enforce it. It comes about one year after GenX releases at the plant, and the difficulty in removing the chemical from drinking water supplies downstream, became widespread public knowledge.
A Chemours spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, which was emailed shortly after 5 p.m. Monday. WRAL News toured the Fayetteville Works plant last week, and Long said then that the facility can’t get to a 100 percent reduction, but it can get to 99 percent by 2020.
That plan will cost about $100 million to implement, the company has said. DEQ said Monday that, while that technology is implemented, “accelerated measures” are called for.
Update: Chemours provided a statement Tuesday, after this story posted, saying it is reviewing DEQ’s filings, that it’s addressing all the items outlined in the department’s proposed court order and that it will achieve the 99 percent emission reduction by Dec. 31, 2019, which is a slight uptick in its previously outlined timetable.
Chemours has already stopped dumping GenX and other compounds into the Cape Fear River, but it emits chemicals into the air, and there is enough in the ground near the facility that heavy rains wash the chemical, which is used to make Teflon and other products, into the water.
DEQ’s new mandate is along the lines of what the Southern Environmental Law Center has pressured DEQ to do at facility. In early May, attorneys there called on DEQ to beef up its enforcement, shutting down the line if needed. The group threatened its own federal lawsuit if emissions continued beyond 60 days, a timetable due to expire in June.
DEQ also issued a notice of violation to Chemours Monday for 18 additional compounds found at the plant, which were detailed in a Jan. 31 report by the company. Groundwater data showed levels of the compounds above allowed concentrations, and DEQ “is exploring all legal options, including civil penalties, for the violations,” the department said.
https://www.wral.com/deq-calls-on-chemours-court-to-ramp-up-genx-measures/17619888/
