(The Center Square) – Previously banned, the EPA says new information from a Dutch exporter allowed it to approve importing GenX to the North Carolina plant at the center of contamination complaints, protests and inquiries the last six years.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s change reverses its 2018 decision, which came a year after Gen X discovery in the Cape Fear River, a drinking water supplier to 1.5 million people that runs beside the plant to Wilmington. Chemours says recycling GenX is part of the manufacturing process for semiconductors and electric vehicles and allows the company to reuse the toxic chemical rather than producing more.
The EPA previously blocked Chemours from importing GenX into the U.S. in 2018, but reversed course last month based on information from a Dutch exporter, EPA officials told the media. The EPA authorization in September allows for more than 100 times amount of GenX Chemours imported in 2018.
GenX is a PFAS, an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. Studies vary on their harmful effects; more is known about their impact on animals than on humans. PFAS, the Environmental Protection Agency says, “are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation” and throughout the world.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in September gave consent for Chemours to haul up to 100 shipments of waste including GenX, not to exceed 4,409,245 pounds, from its facility in the Netherlands to its Fayetteville Works site along the Cumberland and Bladen county line.
Upon the 2017 river discovery, state officials required Chemours to significantly reduce the release of PFAS contamination into the state’s air, water and soil. A subsequent consent order between the Department of Environmental Quality, Cape Fear River Watch, and Chemours tasks the company with monitoring and addressing GenX contamination in more than 12,000 private wells and public water supplies.
The Netherlands company is under criminal investigation for intentionally releasing PFAS near Dordrecht over several decades. A Dutch court previously found the company liable for environmental damage.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality officials have said the EPA did not notify the state about the shipments. They can run through Sept. 4, 2024. The department says it continues to devote staff and resources to addressing the contamination from the Fayetteville Works site.
Domestic production of both semiconductors and electric vehicles are top priorities for the Biden administration, which wants to ensure two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the U.S. are electric by 2032.
Cape Fear River Watch is speaking out against the GenX shipments, which are slated to run through ports along the East Coast, including the Port of Wilmington. They’ll be trucked to the Fayetteville Works site.
“Chemours has not come close to cleaning up the mess they’ve already made,” executive director Dana Sargent said in a prepared statement. “Neither DEQ nor EPA have held them accountable for the breadth of damage. Here again is proof that, if another state or country has something dirty to dispose of, North Carolina is first in line to put our health and environment at risk, in support of padding the pockets of polluting industries.”
