High levels of Teflon-related chemical again found in NC river near Chemours plant

The Chemours Co's ongoing quarrel with North Carolina intensified over the long Thanksgiving week after environmental regulators announced that high levels of the unregulated chemical GenX were again found in a river that supplies water to a region of more than 200,000 people. 

“This increase in GenX levels is alarming and we are demanding answers from the company so we can safeguard water,” North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan said in a statement.

The Delaware-based company recently reported to the state's environmental department that concentrations of GenX in the Cape Fear River, near the outfall pipe from its Fayetteville, North Carolina, plant, spiked to 2,400 parts per trillion at the end of October. 

"While the outfall is not a source of drinking water, the concentrations detected there from Oct. 27-Nov. 2 were well above the state’s provisional health goal for drinking water of 140 parts per trillion," regulators said in their announcement.

The news of elevated GenX levels came more than a week after regulators moved to revoke Chemours' right to discharge process wastewater from its Fayetteville plant. They claimed the company failed to report a separate early-October release of GenX into the river, which caused levels of the chemical to spike to 3,700 parts per trillion.

Environmental regulators also referred that matter to the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation for possible criminal charges.

An official from Chemours, which has about 1,000 employees in Delaware, last week called the potential permit revocation "unwarranted" and emphasized the company is "committed to operating this facility, which employs hundreds of North Carolina residents." 

Environment spokeswoman Sarah Young on Monday said the state has not determined whether new sanctions would be imposed on Chemours for the latest elevated levels of the chemical in the river.  

Stripping Chemours of its wastewater permit should not cause the company to end its North Carolina operations, Young said. 

It "is an appropriate step and one that the company can achieve without forcing the facility to close," she said. 

Yet, the step is only the latest in a barrage of legal assaults facing Chemours in the Tar Heel State, as well-water users, a local government, and a water utility all have filed lawsuits against the company during the previous two months.   

Chemours also has been directed by the state to buy bottled water for 50 residential well owners living near its facility. 

The sprawling, 2,150-acre Fayetteville plant sits next to the Cape Fear River, which flows southeast for 100 miles to the North Carolina city of Wilmington and the Atlantic Ocean. 

The plant is one of Chemours nine fluoroproducts facilities in North America – a list that includes a location in Elkton, Maryland.

Sales of fluoroproducts, which include Teflon and refrigeration products, totaled nearly $2.3 billion for the company in 2016. 

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GenX has been used since 2009 in the production of Teflon, a nonstick coating commonly found on cookware. The chemical also is a byproduct of the production of other Chemours products, and it may have been present in the ambient environment before GenX was commercialized, according to North Carolina regulators.

In early November, Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano told The News Journal that there is no health issue associated with GenX in North Carolina, "and we don’t think anyone’s at risk." 

Asked by stock analysts about the situation during a Nov. 4 earnings call, Vergnano said "we stopped that affluent immediately. We were not asked to do that. We felt that was the right thing to do." 

North Carolina regulators do not refer to GenX as a toxic chemical because it is a relatively new, and untested, substance, Jamie Kritzer, spokesman for the environmental department, said earlier this month.

“Simply because there’s limited health information about it at this point,” he said.

Chemours officials on Monday did not respond to a request to comment. 

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.