Chemours Agrees To $450 Million PFAS Settlement

The Chemours Company has agreed to pay $450 million for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) releases at four facilities in three states, including West Virginia. PFAS are synthetic “forever chemicals” used to make products resistant to water, grease, and stains. They do not break down in the environment and accumulate in the human body, leading to  health risks like cancers, reproductive issues, immune suppression, and hormonal disruption. 

Chemours also manufactures PFAS for various industrial and military applications, including those where substitutes are not readily available.  

This is the first comprehensive settlement by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims over pollution by a manufacturer of forever chemicals.  

The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) announced the multi-state settlement under the Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Toxic Substance Control Act, and West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act. North Carolina and New Jersey were also involved.  

Under the agreement, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million for alleged violations and conduct a multi-year, $90 million dollar program to mitigate PFAS discharges.  

Chemours will also install PFAS pollution controls for surface water discharges and air emissions at its facility in West Virginia just outside of Parkersburg in Wood County and supply clean drinking water for more than a decade to communities that surround its facilities in West Virginia and New Jersey. It will also evaluate options and implement corresponding controls to reduce releases of PFAS and other toxic chemicals from its facility in North Carolina.  

Combined, the cost of the penalty and injunctive relief programs are estimated to exceed $450 million. The settlement allows Chemours to continue manufacturing PFAS for critical commercial and military applications while preventing future contamination and protecting communities from that contamination. 

“This landmark settlement shows the administration’s commitment to protecting the public from harmful pollution,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “Through this commitment, Chemours will better control PFAS at its plants, allowing the company to continue its manufacturing operations while protecting communities in North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Jersey from PFAS exposure. This agreement ensures that the company will manufacture these critical materials in a responsible manner.” 

Jennie Smith, executive director for West Virginia Rivers Coalition, said she “is very happy that this resolution has been reached. This agreement delivers what we have consistently advocated for: a permanent, dedicated funding source to protect our drinking water.”  

“For many years, local residents have dealt with the impacts of these ‘forever chemicals,’ and this legally binding agreement shifts the responsibility entirely to the company,” Smith said. “This settlement secures the infrastructure upgrades needed to safeguard our water resources for now and future generations. By pairing a $22.5 million financial settlement and implementation of treatment upgrades with an additional 15-year infrastructure overhaul, our water will be protected through strict, court-enforceable compliance measures.”  

West Virginia Rivers Coalition was represented in the citizen suit by Appalachian Mountain Advocates and Public Justice. “We owe an immense amount of gratitude to our legal team. Their tireless dedication and excellent legal strategy gave us the power to hold a massive corporation accountable, securing enforceable protections for our environment,” Smith said.   

“The complaint and accompanying Consent Decree filed by the United States today piggy-back on the citizen suit filed by WV Rivers Coalition last year,” Jim Hecker, senior environmental enforcement attorney at Public Justice, said. “Since the district court granted the Coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction last August, Chemours has complied with the injunction and stopped its violations at two of its discharge points. The United States decree builds on that progress and demonstrates the power of citizens coming together to demand accountability through our legal system.”   

“As Attorney General, my office investigated Chemours and took crucial steps needed to reach this settlement and position the state to reach justice for West Virginians — we will continue to ensure that every company complies with our laws,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said. “This settlement is an encouraging first step, but it addresses only one piece of a much larger issue. We remain actively engaged in discussions to reach a comprehensive resolution for the Washington Works facility that protects our citizens and ensures West Virginia’s communities have confidence that these issues are being addressed for the long term. We look forward to continuing those discussions and achieving an outcome that serves the best interests of the Mountain State.” 

The complaint alleges that three of the facilities that Chemours operates in West Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey discharged PFAS into the Ohio River, Cape Fear River, and Delaware River, in violation of permits required by the Clean Water Act and the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act.  

Also, Chemours was allegedly not complying with legal requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act at all four facilities. These alleged violations continued for over a decade. The facilities were previously owned for many decades by DuPont, and today’s settlement does not resolve DuPont’s liability for forever chemicals. 

As a result of the alleged violations, people living around these facilities were exposed to illegal PFAS. PFAS are widely used and found around the world, with scientific studies showing that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. 

To remedy the alleged violations, the consent decree calls for 14 specified projects to reduce PFAS in wastewater, stormwater, and groundwater from the West Virginia plant, such as treatment systems using granulated activated carbon. And for people drinking water near the plants in West Virginia and New Jersey, Chemours will test the drinking water and provide treated or alternative clean water.  

Also, Chemours will be required to control releases of the chemical compound GenX — used to aid in making plastics called fluoropolymers — from each facility at an efficiency of at least 99%. Additionally, Chemours will implement controls at its North Carolina facility to mitigate releases of PFAS and other toxics based on recommendations from a third-party engineering firm. These programs will last for 15 years. 

Chemours will also implement enhanced Leak Detection and Repair programs to reduce emissions of PFAS. Finally, Chemours must certify compliance with respect to its storage of hazardous waste. 

Attorneys with ENRD’s Environmental Enforcement Section lodged the consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.  

The consent decree is subject to a public comment period and is available at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. 

The EPA investigated the case with assistance from WV DEP. More information on the settlement is available on EPA’s Chemours Settlement Summary – June 2026 webpage.