I have covered a lot in the past year, but the most impactful stories for me have been about the environmental catastrophe occurring in our backyard: the decades-long contamination of the Cape Fear region with a class of toxic and pervasive chemicals, known as PFAS.
Even after Chemours, and its predecessor DuPont, have been forced to come up with better regulations of their PFAS production in recent years, the effects of the pollution have remained. Many locals, especially in the Gray’s Creek area next to the Fayetteville Works plant, say they are still dealing with ongoing issues in accessing safe water and with chronic health problems linked to exposure to PFAS.
My first story on PFAS, and my top story of the year, was about residents living near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant. Researchers had found elevated levels of the harmful chemicals in their pet dogs and horses. This was my first foray into the complicated, and often devastating, world of reporting on the topic of “forever chemicals,” a class of chemicals that don’t break down naturally in the environment and wreak havoc in the bodies of humans and animals.
In the fall, I reported on local residents’ and activists’ responses to the news that Chemours had been allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency to import 4 million pounds of GenX from its Netherlands facility to the Fayetteville Works plant over the next year. My reporting included concerns over Chemours’ ability to adequately handle the shipments, and residents’ concerns over the apparent, continued lack of government oversight over the companies that caused this environmental crisis.
Later in November, I reported on a rally local activists held to protest the shipments. The protest drew a small crowd of dedicated advocates.
Most recently, I reported that the United Nations described the decades-long PFAS pollution in the Cape Fear Region carried out by Chemours and its predecessor DuPont as a major human rights violation. Independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council made public their investigation into PFAS contamination in the Lower Cape Fear region. As a result of that investigation, the U.N. group sent letters to Chemours, DuPont, Corteva and the governments of the United States and the Netherlands, alleging each party’s involvement in the pollution of toxic forever chemicals, such as PFAS, from the Fayetteville Works plant.
In the same article, I reported that the EPA reversed its initial decision to allow Chemours to import up to 4.4 million pounds of GenX chemical waste to the Fayetteville Works Plant from the company’s plant in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
That reversal came after immense public pressure — including from Cumberland County commissioners and Gov. Roy Cooper — to halt the imports. Local advocacy groups also lobbied for the agency to reverse the decision, holding a protest outside the Chemours plant on Nov. 18 and garnering over 1,100 signatures for a petition they sent to the EPA Tuesday.
In my latest PFAS story, out Friday, I’ll be writing about the 2023 N.C. State GenX study, as well as lawsuits that have come out in recent weeks over forever chemicals.
As we move into the new year, expect a good deal of news to come out on this subject. With new chemicals and harmful impacts of PFAS revealed on a consistent basis, expect more scientific revelations in the coming months.
Several more lawsuits will likely come into view as well, including a decision on the six bellwether cases against Chemours and Dupont of plaintiffs living near the Fayetteville plant — cases that may serve as an indicator of future outcomes — which are expected to go to trial in April 2024.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
