“Chemours had not responded to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) latest air permit notice as of late Friday afternoon, according to a department spokeswoman, an inaction DEQ leadership warned would lead to the prohibition of air emissions of the chemical GenX.
‘Chemours must show to DEQ’s satisfaction that they can operate without further contamination of groundwater or we will prohibit all GenX air emissions,’ Michael Regan, DEQ’s secretary, warned earlier this month.
April 6, DEQ issued a 60-day notice to Chemours alerting the company that regulators plan on modifying the air quality permit for Chemours’ Fayetteville Works Plant. The company has released GenX from the plant for decades, and while water discharges have fallen significantly, regulators have turned their attention to air emissions of the chemical.
Chemours, DEQ wrote, had until April 27 to respond to DEQ and either demonstrate that air emissions are not contaminating groundwater or propose conditions limiting further contamination. DEQ also said that a response would help it set an air quality limit in the modified permit.
If the company did not respond, DEQ warned, it would proceed with modifications to the air quality permit, prohibiting emissions of GenX…
According to UNCW researchers, a precursor chemical is emitted from the plant and mixes with moisture in the air to turn into GenX. DEQ rainwater samples from around the Fayetteville Works plant in late February and early March found the chemical as far as 7 miles away from the facility in levels between 45 and 810 parts per trillion (ppt).”
Read the full article by Adam Wagner