Environmentalists grateful for appellate win over chemical industry giant

(The Center Square) – Health advisories issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the risks of chemicals produced at a North Carolina plant on the Cape Fear River are lawful and not reviewable by a court.

In a ruling by three judges Tuesday at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, Justice Arianna Freeman wrote, “The health advisory provides guidance, but it imposes no obligations, prohibitions, or restrictions. The health advisory also does not give rise to any ‘direct and appreciable legal consequences.’”

Chemours has disagreed with how the EPA assessed data and reached its advisory on two chemicals – hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and the ammonium salt of HFPO dimer acid. The company said states have created law based on the EPA advisories.

The Center Square has asked Chemours, and awaits at time of publication, answers to questions related to the case.

Cape Fear River Watch Executive Director Dana Sargent, in a statement, said, “Chemours fought this health advisory level for the same motivation behind all their actions: money. While the court did not acknowledge their smokescreen, we are grateful they rejected Chemours’ nefarious claim.”

The ruling comes a month after the seventh anniversary of the revelation – first reported by the StarNews newspaper in Wilmington – GenX was being released into the Cape Fear at the Fayetteville Works campus on N.C. 87. The river flows to the Atlantic Ocean, supplying drinking water to the growing Wilmington area.

Chemours, headquartered in Delaware, is a 2015 spinoff from DuPont. In Bladen County, it is the No. 2 contributor to the tax base behind Smithfield Foods, operator in Tar Heel of the world’s largest pork processing facility.

Chemours and oth er chemical companies – estimated to have collectively settled $11 billion worth of litigation in 2023 – are under the microscope for PFAS, the acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. One of those getting attention is GenX, a trade name for C3 dimer acid.

PFAS are widely used, long-lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time. They are used in everyday items such as nonstick pans, cosmetics, stain-resistant clothing and firefighting foams.

Studies vary on their harmful effects; more is known about their impact on animals than on humans. PFAS, the EPA says , “are found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation” and throughout the world.

As testing was done in Bladen County in the years after the 2017 discovery, many residents became aware of varying levels of GenX in ground water and the air in the surrounding area. Not all were elevated to what is believed harmful impact. Residents expressed varying levels of suspicion and acceptance about the effect.

Chemours, for 2023, had more than $1 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization and $6 billion in net sales. Forty-five percent of sales were in North America.