The Chemours Fayetteville Works wants to increase production of PFAS, a toxic pollutant.
This comes as an unpleasant surprise. I’d have thought the chemical company might be more interested in limiting production of PFAS, aka per-and polyfluoroalkyl compounds. They have been linked to cancer in lab animals, and residents who have been impacted by the chemicals say they have caused a variety of health problems, including cancer and immune disorders.
I might even have thought Chemours would scale back. Seeing as how the Chemours plant at the Cumberland County and Bladen County line has been found over the years to have polluted groundwater and homeowners’ wells across a wide swath of the Cape Fear Region, stretching up to Wilmington.
Clean Cape Fear: Chemours has not ‘earned the right’ to make more PFAS
Instead, according to a permit, first filed in 2022 and revised in August, the company said it wants to expand usage of PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals.” In the filing, the company claimed introducing 16 new fluorinated organic compounds, which are PFAS, would still leave it below the emissions limits imposed by environmental regulations…