The Dive: PFAS Problems Persist for Chemours

Earlier this month, The Guardian ran a story about Chemours, which for decades has contaminated the southeastern North Carolina environment with per- and polyfluorinated substances, or PFAS. Commercially lauded for their nonstick qualities, PFAS are also known as “forever chemicals” because of their longevity in the environment.

Chemours claims it has virtually eliminated PFAS discharges from its Fayetteville Works facility and is meeting state requirements under a consent order established in 2019. 

But the U.K.-based paper ran its own tests on rainwater that found PFAS levels near the plant far exceed what regulators found, and cast doubt on Chemours’ claims. 

There are thousands of different types of PFAS, but the state consent order only requires Chemours to remove a handful of them. The Guardian tested for types excluded from state requirements, and inevitably, the research team discovered higher levels of those.

The Dive caught up with Tom Perkins, a Detroit-based freelancer who reported the story. Check out an abridged version of our discussion below.

---

Johanna F. Still: The piece took you two years to report. How did it get started, and how did it evolve?

Tom Perkins: I’ve written quite a bit about the Chemours plant over the last three-ish years and learned in 2022 about the air pollution component of the consent order that requires the company to reduce its pollution by at least 99 percent. Chemours also started boasting that it had reduced its air emissions by more than 99 percent in its aggressive “good neighbor” PR campaign. 

But I knew regulators/industry use tests that only look for a very small number of PFAS, so I wondered what exactly Chemours meant by “99 percent.” Notre Dame’s Graham Peaslee developed a test that looks for markers of all PFAS, and [North Carolina State University’s] Detlef Knappe is an expert on Chemours’ PFAS air emissions, so I asked them how we could design a bit of a study to look into this. 

The premise is pretty simple. We theorized that using a test that looks for all PFAS would find more of the chemicals than a test that looks for less than 1 percent. Unsurprisingly, Peaslee’s test found higher levels, though that comes with some caveats. The findings suggest that Chemours is not reducing air emissions for “all PFAS” by 99 percent, as it claims, but 99 percent of the limited number of PFAS it looks for. 

Still: There are several areas of Chemours’ contamination at stake–air, groundwater, surface water. What made you focus on air?

Perkins: The dangers of PFAS air pollution are just coming into focus, and this will help raise a bit of awareness on the issue. There’s also been a ton of research on Chemours’ water pollution in the area, and very little on air issues. But one could do this same analysis with anything contaminated with PFAS–groundwater, surface water, food, blood, soil–and generally get similar results because the premise is so simple: A test that looks for all 15,000 types of PFAS will often find more of the chemicals than one that looks for three or 30 or 50. 

Still: One of the scientists you partnered with, Knappe, was among those who first found PFAS in public drinking water in 2016. How important was it to have him involved? 

Perkins: I know a lot about PFAS for a reporter, but this one was super complicated and there’s no way it could have been done without him or Peaslee–both are brilliant researchers. 

Still: What’s your take on Chemours’ response to your findings?

Perkins: They had some legitimate concerns with our study design/methodology, and we note the limitations in the story. One would need to sample over a long period of time to come to a stronger conclusion–what we did was a snapshot. But Chemours knows, and basic common sense tells you, that using a test that looks for all PFAS will largely find more of the chemicals than a test that looks for less than 1 percent.  

Still: What role did The Guardian play in the scientists’ collection and analysis of the samples? Had you previously taken and analyzed your own samples?

Perkins: I’ve done several projects that involve sampling, and tested water from around the country using a similar premise/methodology. I’ve also checked a bunch of consumer products from my house, blood, and cat’s blood to show how we’re exposed to PFAS in daily life. In this case, Mike Watters, a citizen scientist type who lives near Chemours, did all the rainwater collecting because I live in Detroit. Peaslee/Knappe did the actual sample analysis in their labs. I coordinated. 

Still: What’s your biggest takeaway?

Perkins: It’s very likely that there are more PFAS in the air around the plant than regulators or Chemours suggest. More testing should be done. Also, regulators need to get serious and use a test that looks for markers of all PFAS and regulate the chemicals as a class.

Still: You featured a family that lives just 1 mile from the facility. They live in what seems like justified paranoia. What were your takeaways from talking with them? 

Perkins: PFAS seem to be everywhere around the factory and they are generally highly toxic chemicals that don’t go away once [they’re] in the soil, water, food, etc. The people who live there are getting hit at every turn, and it’s infuriating that regulators/Chemours seem to be misleading on issues like this. 

– Johanna F. Still

Catch up on an audio conversation on last week’s edition of The Dive here, or contact us with story ideas and feedback at wilmington@theassemblync.com.

---

The waters of the Cape Fear River partially covered the parking lot at the Battleship North Carolina Memorial in Wilmington last Friday, amid a king tide.

Members of the state battleship commission and other invited guests had to drive and wade through standing, ankle-deep water to get to the front door of the visitors center to board the ship for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Living With Water project.

It was a fitting demonstration of the problem the battleship has been dealing with for the last few years–one that you had to see with your own eyes to fully understand. 

For The Assembly, Ben McNeely offers a quick update on the battleship’s biggest battle yet. 

Lift All Boats

Guests had to wade through ankle-deep water for the groundbreaking of the Living With Water project at the USS North Carolina–a testament to the crisis the battleship faces.

---

Not a subscriber yet? Good journalism is expensive – and we need your support to do more of it. For just $6 a month or $60 a year, you’ll unlock full access to our archives and help us grow in 2025.

Already a subscriber? Consider giving the gift of The Assembly to a friend.

---

Around the Region

Gag Order Enforced: The Town of Holly Ridge fired an employee for giving an unaired interview to a television station about mold and tenants rights despite a staff-wide media gag order, WHQR reports. 

Sunset Stalk: While Sunset Beach’s town manager was being investigated for making inappropriate requests of the police department during a closed session meeting, her husband allegedly stalked and confronted town employees, the Brunswick Beacon reports. 

Chopping Block: New Hanover County Schools is looking to eliminate nearly 280 positions for next school year if no one retires or quits, WHQR reports. The system is facing a $20 million budget shortfall, double what officials thought last month.

---

---

Around the State

---

---