“Chemours is beginning a massive cleanup operation this month involving the removal of an unregulated Teflon chemical from the land, water and air around its North Carolina production facility, according to a recent letter the company sent to state regulators…

It is the company’s latest known liability related to its release of the chemical GenX into the Cape Fear River, which provides drinking water to a region of 200,000 people. Chemours also is facing pollution lawsuits from a North Carolina county government, a public water utility and homeowners who are seeking a billion dollars.

The cleanup operation follows a recent sanctioning of the company by North Carolina regulators, who on Feb. 12 issued to Chemours its second notice of violation related to the GenX pollution.

At the time, Michael Scott, North Carolina’s waste management director, said Chemours had failed to identify how it would remove the unregulated chemical from the area around its Fayetteville, North Carolina, production facility.

In a Feb. 26 letter, a Chemours official said the company’s response to the pollution, since it was publicly disclosed last year, has been sufficient,

‘Given the significant work Chemours had already undertaken and the ongoing
communications between Chemours and (North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality) regarding the plan to address the groundwater contamination, Chemours was surprised to receive the (violation),’ Chemours project director Kevin Garon said in the letter, which was obtained by the News Journal on Wednesday…

In the letter to North Carolina, Garon said the company in March will begin pumping water with rental equipment and shipping it away as an interim measure until ‘Chemours evaluates and implements a longer-term remedy.’

‘The pumped water will be containerized for off-site disposal until such time as suitable treatment technology can be installed on-site,’ Garon said in the letter obtained by The News Journal.

Additionally, the company will place lining or piping around an outfall channel that flows from the North Carolina facility to keep contaminated groundwater away from the Cape Fear River, he said. A new carbon system at the plant also will be installed to reduce air emission of GenX and related chemicals.”

Read the full article by Karl Baker.