EPA orders Chemours to address PFAS pollution

EPA Chemours PFAS pollution overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Chemours to take action to address waterway pollution.
• Why: The EPA says the company is exceeding the number of PFAs it is allowed to release into the environment.
• Where: EPA Chemours PFAS pollution order applies to a plant in West Virginia.

The federal environment watchdog has ordered The Chemours Company to take action to address pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) it is putting into the Ohio River.

On April 26, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it had ordered Chemours to take corrective measures to address the pollution coming from its Washington Works facility near Parkersburg in West Virginia.

The order on consent also directs Chemours to characterize the extent of PFAS contamination from discharges, the EPA said.

It is the first EPA Clean Water Act enforcement action ever taken to hold polluters accountable for discharging PFAS into the environment, the EPA added. 

Chemours exceeded levels of PFAS discharges allowed

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s. There are thousands of different PFAS chemicals, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. 

According to the EPA order, PFAS levels in the discharges from the facility exceed levels that are set in the facility’s Clean Water Act permit.

“Administrator Regan has directed EPA staff to use every enforcement tool at our disposal to compel manufacturers of PFAS to characterize, control, and clean up ongoing and past PFAS contamination,” EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield said in a press release. 

“Through this order, EPA is taking action to address PFAS violations and better protect the resources and people of West Virginia.”

Under the Clean Water Act, it is unlawful to discharge pollutants into U.S. waterways except pursuant to a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, issued by the EPA or a state, the federal agency said. 

Chemours operates several manufacturing units at the Washington Works facility and discharges industrial process water and stormwater to the Ohio River and its tributaries, under the terms of a NPDES permit issued in 2018. 

However, the company has been exceeding the limits of its permit, the EPA said.

In March, the EPA proposed a new rule to limit “forever chemicals” in drinking water. 

The EPA has proposed maximum contaminant levels of four parts per trillion of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water systems throughout the country.

What do you think of this landmark consent order? Let us know in the comments!

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