Chemours Chemical Company, Formerly DuPont, Continues to Violate Its Permit by Releasing Contaminants into the Ohio River: Recently Ordered by a Judge to Stop

     This story has personal relevance for me as it involves the water that comes from my faucets. While I don’t drink the tap water, I shower, bathe, wash dishes, and partially cook with it. Once, the local water company had a very expensive filtration system to remove the C8 chemical (via DuPont) from the water. After the C8 was no longer found in dangerous concentrations, the system was removed. However, there are apparently other chemical concerns with the water due to the same chemical company. Should I be concerned about the title of one article about it, which states that the water is poisoned, and the EPA does not seem to care? Judge Joseph R. Goodwin recently ordered the contamination to be stopped after compliance with the permit was ignored for five years. My water, like most water here near the Ohio River, comes from alluvial aquifers in unconsolidated sand just below the river. Water from the river is naturally slow-filtered through the sand, which removes some contaminants, but not like groundwater aquifers in deeper rock that filter groundwater for thousands of years or more.

     Multiple pathways for contamination of the environment via PFAS chemicals are shown below from an EPA graphic.

“Those pollutants endanger the environment, aquatic life, and human health,” U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin wrote in the order. “Today, that unlawful, unpermitted discharge stops.” The West Virginia Rivers Coalition asked Goodwin in February to require the former DuPont, now Chemours, Washington Works facility to immediately comply with its permit limits after violating it for more than five years. The coalition’s request came after the group initially sued Chemours in December over the violations.”

     Apparently, Chemours has long acknowledged that they are not in compliance, yet continues to contaminate the river. What’s up with that?

“Since 2019, the Washington Works site has violated its permit limits by discharging higher than allowed levels of pollution, including PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” into the Ohio River, which supplies drinking water for more than five million people. Chemours has acknowledged the plant has violated its permit limits. But they argue that they are working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address the issues. The federal agency issued a 2023 order to require the company to address its violations, but the EPA hasn’t given final approval to Chemours’ plan.”

     It’s nice to know that they have been working to address the problem for more than five years, while not addressing it at all. Should I be mad that the ultimate source of the water coming from my faucets is knowingly contaminated and done so in a bold and clear violation of permits? I think yes. The company has said for two years that they are working with the U.S. EPA to resolve the problem, but had yet to submit a plan to the EPA. They finally submitted an updated plan in April 2025. In 2022, the limits for some PFAS contaminants were lowered, which resulted in bringing the facility more out of compliance, although it was already often out of compliance. In November 2024, the average monthly limit for a specific forever chemical, which is sometimes known as GenX, at one of its discharge outlets, measured 4.5 times the level allowed by its permit. That spike in that particular pollutant was measurable hundreds of miles downstream from the contamination site. In Cincinnati, several hundred miles downstream, the GenX contaminant level was measured in drinking water at more than twice the EPA permitted level. Levels at 5 times the EPA limit were measured further downstream in Louisville, Kentucky.

     West Virginia Rivers Coalition has been at the forefront of the issue. They are the ones who asked the judge to temporarily comply with the permits in May 2025 until the case can be heard. In 2024, Chemours asked the U.S. EPA and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for an additional three years to upgrade its treatment system in order to comply. As noted, they have yet to submit a plan. Both Chemours and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition hired toxicologists to advocate for them about the risks to human health.

     Chemours Washington Works is listed as a plastics plant. In 1984, the company, then DuPont, began testing local water supplies secretly, finding high levels of its chemical, C8, which was used to make Teflon. That particular chemical is no longer used, but similar PFAS chemicals are. DuPont did not inform regulators of their test results until 18 years later, in 2002. Thus, the company has a long history of shirking its compliance responsibilities. They did embark on tests of people for cancers that might be related to their chemicals. Perhaps I should have been involved since, from 1993-1997, I got water from the Lubeck Public Water District, which is very near the plant. It was noted that Lubeck Public Water District customers “face a higher risk of harm because they have a history of exposure to forever chemicals from past contamination.” 

     According to Wikipedia:

“In 2005, residents of Parkersburg began finding level of C8 in their bloodstream at a volume that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Residents launched 3,500 compensation claims, blaming the factory for contaminating water, air, and soil. A DuPont-commissioned survey undertaken by ChemRisk stated that DuPont released over 1.7 million pounds of C8, 632,468 pounds of that into the Ohio River system. 394,486 pounds was reported to be buried in unlined landfills and 686,233 pounds was released into the environment via chimneys.”

     According to the most recent case filings:

“This case is simple and all too familiar. For years, Defendant Chemours Company has discharged pollutants into the Ohio River. The level of discharge far exceeds the legal limits that bind Chemours. Those pollutants endanger the environment, aquatic life, and human health. Today, that unlawful, unpermitted discharge stops. Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the state of West Virginia have recognized that forever chemicals like PFAS and HFPO-DA are dangerous, persistent, and mobile pollutants. Because an increased exposure to these chemicals puts the public health at risk, the government regulates these compounds by setting limits on how much pollutant a facility can discharge. This agreement is memorialized in a permit. But Defendant Chemours has treated its permit more as full permission to act without constraint. Chemours boldly violates its permit and admitted as much at the preliminary injunction.”

     The company wants more time to upgrade its treatment system. Should it get it? I think no, since this problem has been well known for years, and it can be argued that they are just delaying to save money. The company argued in May that shutting down the plant would cause harm to its 500 employees and the local revenue it brings in. The coalition argued, however, that there were no federal protections on that basis.

     In late 2024, the company expanded its production of Teflon PFA, a forever chemical resin used in semiconductor manufacturing to prevent contamination during wet etching and fabrication. The chemical company is the only U.S.-based manufacturer of the Teflon material. This is in response to increasing demand expected from the CHIPS and Science Act under the Biden Administration. In July 2023, it was announced that the plant had tentative plans to spend $1 billion to expand the plant. Manufacturing Dive also recounts the past history of the plant:

“The site is also the cause of major litigation. In November 2023, Chemours, DuPont and Corteva reached a $110 million settlement with the state of Ohio over chemical contamination from the factory. The state claimed PFAS emissions from the factory harmed nearby Ohio residents’ health and contaminated the environment for more than 70 years.”

     So, to recap, this company is gung ho about increasing their capacity and expanding their PFAS production, quickly adding that capacity, while at the same time ‘slow walking’ their water treatment system to mitigate contamination that they both admit is occurring and that is often considerably above permit limits.

     In the August 2025 filing:

“Goodwin wrote that the Chemours’ Washington Works facility “boldly violates” its permit, and must meet its permit limits until the full case is heard later this year.”

     In 2023, the U.S. EPA began a Clean Water Act enforcement action to require the company to comply with contaminant levels. It was the first-ever enforcement action related to PFAS chemicals. It required the company to address its stormwater and effluent releases. According to the EPA order:

“Chemours operates several manufacturing units at the Washington Works facility, which produce fluorinated organic chemical products including fluoropolymers. The facility discharges industrial process water and stormwater to the Ohio River and its tributaries, under the terms of a NPDES permit issued in 2018 by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company was the NPDES permit holder at Washington Works until 2015. In 2015, the permit was transferred to Chemours.”

“The permit imposes discharge limits and requires monitoring of certain pollutants, including PFAS such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which was used in the past as a processing aid for manufacturing, and HFPO Dimer Acid, also known as GenX -- which replaced PFOA as a processing aid.”

“As an initial step in characterizing PFAS in surface water discharges, EPA’s order requires Chemours to implement an EPA-approved sampling plan to analyze PFAS and conduct analysis to further understand the presence of PFAS in stormwater and effluent discharged from the facility. Also, Chemours will submit and implement a plan to treat or minimize the discharge of PFAS to ensure compliance with numeric effluent limits of PFOA and HFPO Dimer Acid.”

“In addition, to identify best practices to reduce PFAS discharges from the site, Chemours will submit its existing Standard Operating Procedures relating to the management of wastewater for various systems and its revised Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan.”

     The EPA also has a page about the Washington Works site. Below is some information about the sample requirements given in 2023 (Current Sampling) and the historic sampling from 2017.

     Now, I’m off to immerse myself in the (contaminated?) water about which I write.

 

     

 

References:

 

Chemours must immediately stop unlawfully polluting Ohio River, federal judge orders. Sarah Elbeshbishi. Mountain State Spotlight. August 7, 2025. Chemours ordered to stop unlawfully polluting Ohio River

WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION, INC., Plaintiff, and LITTLE HOCKING WATER ASSOCIATION, INC. Intervenor-Plaintiff, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:24-cv-00701THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER. August 7, 2025. Goodwin August 7 Chemours order | DocumentCloud

There’s Poisoned Water in West Virginia. The EPA Hardly Seems to Care. Charles P. Pierce. Esquire. August 25, 2025. There’s Poisoned Water in West Virginia. The EPA Hardly Seems to Care.

WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION, INC., Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-00701THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC,. March 3, 2025. Chemours Company's response to West Virginia Rivers Coalition's complaint | DocumentCloud

Chemours and environmentalists face off in court over unlawful pollution in the Ohio River. Here’s what to know. Sarah Elbeshbishi. Mountain State Spotlight. May 30, 2025. WV Rivers asks court to stop Chemours from violating permit

Chemours Washington Works History and Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) Settlements. U.S. EPA. Chemours Washington Works History and Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) Settlements | US EPA

Washington Works. Wikipedia. Washington Works - Wikipedia

Chemours expands Teflon PFA production in West Virginia. Sara Samora. Manufacturing Dive. August 22, 2024. Chemours expands Teflon PFA production in West Virginia | Manufacturing Dive

EPA takes first-ever federal Clean Water Act enforcement action to address PFAS discharges at Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, W. Va. U.S. EPA. April 26, 2023. EPA takes first-ever federal Clean Water Act enforcement action to address PFAS discharges at Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, W. Va. | US EPA