“For 30 or so years, Chemours (previously DuPont) has violated [the law] by dumping into the Cape Fear River chemicals for which it had no discharge permit. When the violations were exposed last June by this newspaper, Chemours shrugged it off, mainly by refusing to answer basic questions, and otherwise communicate with the folks who have been ingesting the toxic chemical cocktail the Fortune 500 company dumps into the Cape Fear River.

After a bipartisan outcry from area residents and government bodies — not to mention a variety of legal actions — Chemours fessed up and promised it would stop what effectively is the tainting of our primary source of drinking water…

Chemours assured state and local officials that the chemicals would be contained in a closed-loop system, with the leftovers shipped out of state for proper disposal. What has become evident, however, is that the plants at the Fayetteville Works site (they share wastewater systems) are not capable of keeping fluorochemical compounds out of the river.

That said, when it meets tonight at 6:30 we expect that the Wilmington City Council will join with the New Hanover County commissioners and CFPUA board and request that the state require that ‘all tenants of the Fayetteville Works site cease operations that result in the production of fluorochemical compounds, due to their inability to operate without discharging fluorochemical compounds into the Cape Fear River.’

We encourage every governing body in our region, along with every civic and business organization, nonprofit group and house of worship to endorse the same resolution and convey it by certified mail to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, the governor, and to each of the region’s state legislators.

Shutting down those manufacturing processes is the only option we see at this time. Later, if the plants can get their acts together and follow the law, they would be welcome to come back and apply for the proper permit. Until then, they have no right to continue to foul our water.

Meanwhile, we want to make this very clear: If whoever has the authority — be it DEQ, Gov. Roy Cooper or the General Assembly — to once and for all stop this threat fails to act, they are as guilty of intentional neglect as the polluters themselves.”

Read the full article by the StarNews Editorial Board.