RALEIGH – Officials with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality on Wednesday confirmed additional sources of the chemical GenX at the Chemours industrial complex have been stopped to prevent the unregulated compound from discharging to the Cape Fear River.
The state deployed an inspection team to the Fayetteville Works facility in response to a report from Chemours that recent water testing conducted by the company showed the presence of GenX at the plant’s point of discharge to the Cape Fear River.
The Chemours facility on June 21 changed its process to reroute wastewater containing GenX to tankers for removal and offsite incineration. DEQ inspectors were deployed this week after Chemours indicated that data the company had collected was higher than what it would have expected after the June 21 wastewater diversion had begun.
“As a result of the DEQ-led investigation, we confirmed during our inspection that the company halted the affected industrial activities at the plant and stopped the additional wastewater discharge,” said Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
The additional discharge was coming from several areas at the plant. Company officials have told the state that the process areas where the GenX originated will remain inactive until the wastewater from the areas is collected for removal and offsite incineration.
As part of its ongoing investigation, DEQ will continue to collect water quality samples until late July near the Chemours facility and downstream, and will use data from testing to inform its decisions moving forward.