Governor Stein Stands Up for Clean Water in North Carolina
As chemical company Chemours tries to avoid its responsibilities to North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein continues to stand up for the state. Governor Stein, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and Secretary of Environmental Quality Reid Wilson today sent a joint comment letter on the proposed deal between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Chemours that would settle federal claims of PFAS contamination without providing any clear relief for North Carolina.
Separately, Governor Stein and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) filed an amicus brief in Jackson v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours supporting the Attorney General’s ability to hold Chemours and related companies responsible for its widespread harm to North Carolina’s natural resources.
“For decades, Chemours knowingly contaminated North Carolina’s air and water by discharging PFAS from its Fayetteville plant into the Cape Fear River,” said Governor Josh Stein. “Now, Chemours is cutting a settlement deal with the federal government that does next to nothing for North Carolinians and at the same time, is trying to evade the North Carolina Department of Justice’s lawsuit so it can avoid repaying the state for the damage it inflicted. Now is the time for the EPA and the state Supreme Court to do right by our people and our water and truly hold Chemours accountable.”
Last month, the EPA proposed a deal with Chemours to settle the federal government’s claims of PFAS contamination in three states, including North Carolina. But the settlement does not include any monetary commitments for North Carolina, nor does it provide any relief that meaningfully improves upon the consent order that NCDEQ secured almost a decade ago. Governor Stein and Attorney General Jackson denounced the deal, which fails to assure North Carolinians clean drinking water, and today they, along with NCDEQ, submitted comments laying out the problems with the proposed consent decree.
In 2017, NCDEQ sued Chemours and secured sweeping injunctive relief that required the company to, among other things, clean up its pollution, provide clean drinking water to affected private well owners, and dramatically reduce its PFAS discharges and emissions. Several years later, NCDOJ brought a range of claims that had not been part of NCDEQ’s original suit, including claims for damages to natural resources, fraud, and fraudulent transfer. In August 2025, a trial court denied Chemours’ motion to dismiss the Attorney General’s lawsuit.
In addition to suing Du Pont and Chemours during his time as Attorney General, Governor Stein filed lawsuits against more than a dozen PFAS manufacturers for polluting sites across the state. In 2023, he called on the U.S. Senate to pass the National Defense Authorization Act with needed protections to combat exposures to PFAS.
Last month, Governor Stein signed into law a state budget that provides $45 million for a new Emerging Contaminants Mitigation Fund to prevent, test for, and treat PFAS and other forever chemicals and $10 million for DEQ’s Bernard Allen Emergency Drinking Water Fund to test and treat private well water and provide alternative drinking water supplies. Governor Stein is committed to strengthening air and water quality for all North Carolinians.
A copy of Governor Stein and NCDEQ’s amicus brief can be found here.
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