2004: State agency notified of GenX, PFAS pollutants. During state environmental agency inspection, DuPont official said fluorocarbon chemicals in their wastewater discharged to the river won't break down - they are forever chemicals.
2005: The state agency's Division of Air Quality received written report with DuPont's GenX discharge data in 2005.
2005 July: DuPont reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to Division of Air Quality agency officials in 2005. Agency officials silent about PFAAs, GenX, and PFAS chemical pollutants discharged to the Cape Fear River from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers).
2005 September: The C8 Working Group met with state agency Directors to discuss DuPont Fayetteville and concerns about chemical pollutants in the Cape Fear River. The agency Directors were silent about DuPont's report to the Division of Air Quality detailing PFAAs, GenX, and PFAS chemicals discharged to the air and the wastewater from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers).
2006 June: DuPont again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to Division of Air Quality agency officials in 2006. Agency officials still silent about PFAAs, GenX, and PFAS chemical pollutants discharged to the Cape Fear River from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers).
2006 July: DuPont reported to agency officials they had detected PFOA in the Cape Fear River. Agency Directors still silent about the 2005 and 2006 reports showing PFAAs, GenX, and PFAS chemical pollutants in wastewater and air from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers).
2007: DuPont's report is not available. A DEQ Division of Air Quality official indicated that DuPont's annual written report submitted in 2007 may have been discarded by state government officials in 2016.
2008: DuPont again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to Division of Air Quality agency officials in 2008. Agency officials still silent and concealing GenX, PFAS pollutants in water.
2009: DuPont again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to agency officials in 2009. Government officials still silent and concealing GenX, PFAS pollutants in water.
2009: DuPont reported "new" source of PFAS chemical releases to Division of Air Quality officials. Agency officials still silent about GenX, PFAS chemical pollutants discharged to the Cape Fear River from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers)
2010: DuPont's report is not available. A DEQ Division of Air Quality official indicated that DuPont's annual written report submitted in 2010 may have been discarded by state government officials in 2016.
2011: DuPont's report is not available. A DEQ Division of Air Quality official indicated that DuPont's annual written report submitted in 2011 may have been discarded by state government officials in 2016.
2012: DuPont's report is not available. A DEQ Division of Air Quality official indicated that DuPont's annual written report submitted in 2012 may have been discarded by state government officials in 2016.
2012 August: State environmental agency officials hid detailed GenX and PFAS chemical emissions information from the Science Advisory Board and the impacted communities down the Cape Fear River. The agency's 2012 report concealed the Division of Air Quality's detailed knowledge of GenX, PFAS chemical pollutants discharged to the Cape Fear River from DuPont's Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers).
2013: DuPont's report is not available. A DEQ Division of Air Quality official indicated that DuPont's annual written report submitted in 2013 may have been discarded by state government officials in 2016.
2013 October: Dupont submitted information to the agency's Division of Air Quality indicating they planned to make important changes to a Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant "scrubber" system. Dupont indicated they expected the changes would reduce the amount of chemical pollutants in Dupont's wastewater discharge. DuPont's annual reports to the Division of Air Quality specified that the wastewater associated with the scrubber systems at the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant contained GenX and PFAS chemical pollutants.
2014: DuPont again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to Division of Air Quality agency officials in 2014. Agency officials still silent and concealing GenX, PFAS pollutants in water.
2015: DuPont again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to Division of Air Quality agency officials in 2015. Agency officials still silent and concealing GenX, PFAS pollutants in water.
2016: Chemours (formerly DuPont) again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to government officials in 2016. Agency officials still silent and concealing GenX, PFAS pollutants in water.
2016: Numerous DEQ Water managers and supervisors notified of "high levels of PFAS" pollutants in the drinking water in Wilmington and counties downstream of the Chemours (formerly DuPont) Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant. NCSU researcher notified state government officials that the results of chemical analysis of water samples indicate "a large number of people are exposed to high levels of PFASs through their drinking water!" Despite this notification, DEQ officials in Raleigh remained silent and continued to conceal their knowledge of GenX, PFAS pollutants in the Cape Fear River.
2017 June: Public learned of GenX, PFAS pollutants in water from investigative news reports. DEQ Division of Air Quality officials in Raleigh remained silent about their knowledge and concealment of the chemical wastewater from the scrubbers at the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant and the detailed chemical information in DuPont's (Chemours) annual written reports to DEQ over a period of nearly 15 years.
2017: Chemours (formerly DuPont) again reported GenX, PFAS chemicals in water. Annual written report to government officials in 2017. DEQ Division of Air Quality officials remained silent about their knowledge and concealment of the chemical wastewater from the scrubbers at the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant and the detailed chemical information in DuPont's (Chemours) annual written reports over nearly 15 years.
2018-2019: Chemours Hearing Officer notified of DEQ Air Quality cover-up of GenX discharge data. The Hearing Officer responded dismissively to the notification. The DEQ Division of Air Quality management team did not follow-up on the notification.
2017-2020: DEQ Division of Air Quality officials in Raleigh still concealing many years of GenX discharge data from the Science Advisory Board, the U.S. EPA, and the impacted communities down the Cape Fear River.
Call Gov. Roy Cooper [919-814-2000] and urge him to appoint an independent panel to review government officials' handling of the DuPont (Chemours) Fluorochemicals Plant near Fayetteville.
Note that the Chemours (DuPont) scrubbers, which simply transfer the chemical pollutants from air to water, are "control devices" regulated by government officials with the DEQ Division of Air Quality. As a result of this regulatory responsibility, over a period of nearly 15 years state government officials had access to detailed information describing the discharge of GenX and PFAS chemicals from the Chemours (DuPont) Fluorochemicals Plant (via the scrubbers) into the Cape Fear River.
Dr. Jamie DeWitt has explained how parents need to be aware that children are especially sensitive to GenX and PFAS chemicals in the drinking water because their bodies are developing. She points out that children consume more water relative to body weight than adults. In addition, children do not excrete chemicals as easily as adults, increasing the chances for contaminants to interfere with a child’s body growth and development, and an increase in the overall risk of serious illness later in life.
The evidence of DEQ Division of Air Quality concealment and cover-up may help explain why many people in Wilmington and other impacted communities down the Cape Fear River still mistakenly believe that the chemical pollutants in their drinking water came from the GenX and C8 Plants. As state government officials in the Division of Air Quality have known for nearly 15 years, the GenX and PFAS chemical wastewater was discharged from the Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers), located 0.4 miles by vehicle from the GenX and C8 plants. Surprisingly, state and federal government officials have still not given the public an honest explanation of what went wrong.
For nearly 15 years both state and federal environmental officials had access to detailed information describing the discharge of chemical pollutants (GenX and PFAS chemicals) from the DuPont (Chemours) Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant (via the scrubbers) into the Cape Fear River. Surprisingly, there has never been an independent, bipartisan, and transparent investigation of what went wrong with the North Carolina DEQ's handling of the DuPont (Chemours) Nafion Vinyl Ethers plant that caused the Wilmington to Fayetteville Drinking Water Crisis.
Call Gov. Roy Cooper [919-814-2000] and urge him to appoint an independent panel to review government officials' handling of the DuPont (Chemours) Fluorochemicals Plant near Fayetteville.
