Chemical manufacturer Chemours has agreed to pay at least $450 million to resolve the Trump administration's enforcement action over years of illegal discharges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals widely used to make products water and stain resistant. The settlement marks the first federal case against a major PFAS manufacturer.
Under the agreement filed in West Virginia federal court, Chemours will pay a $22.5 million civil penalty for violations and spend $90 million over 15 years to reduce PFAS discharges in West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey. The company committed an additional $60 million to install pollution controls at its West Virginia facility and $280 million to supply clean drinking water to communities near its operations in West Virginia and New Jersey.
Federal regulators determined that Chemours facilities discharged PFAS into the Ohio River, Cape Fear River and Delaware River in violation of Clean Water Act permits and state laws. The contamination exposed nearby residents to illegal levels of the chemicals. The violations persisted for more than a decade at the three sites, which were previously operated by DuPont before Chemours spun off as a separate company.
The settlement allows Chemours to continue manufacturing PFAS for commercial and military use while installing specific treatment systems to reduce future releases. Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, said the agreement balances public health protection with the company's role in supplying important products.
"The settlement protects public health while preserving that important balance," Gustafson said. EPA enforcement chief Jeffrey Hall added that the agreement "brings Chemours into compliance with the law and holds it fully accountable."
Chemours stated it had already begun operational improvements at its facilities. Spokeswoman Jess Loizeaux said the settlement "provides Chemours with greater clarity on future compliance requirements and actions to support long-term responsible manufacturing."
Not everyone viewed the deal favorably. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson called it "an insult to the people of eastern North Carolina," noting that his state is "ground zero for GenX contamination, but this deal does practically nothing to clean up our water." GenX is a synthetic chemical developed as an alternative to PFAS that has raised its own health and environmental concerns.
The settlement comes as the Trump administration is expected to propose rolling back stricter drinking water limits on PFAS that were finalized during the Biden administration. Those rules had been based on scientific findings linking PFAS exposure to cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and low birth weight in infants.
This federal settlement does not affect a separate 2024 agreement in which Chemours, DuPont and Corteva agreed to pay New Jersey up to $2 billion to settle state environmental claims related to PFAS. The federal consent decree also does not resolve DuPont's liability for past PFAS violations at the facilities it previously operated.
A federal judge in August 2025 had ordered Chemours to stop discharging unlawful levels of cancer-causing chemicals into the Ohio River at its Washington Works plant after the company violated permit limits for more than five years. The court found that the pollutants endangered the environment, aquatic life and human health.
Author James Rodriguez: "This settlement shows regulators can extract meaningful commitments from major polluters, but the pushback from a state official and the concurrent effort to weaken drinking water standards suggests the politics around forever chemicals remain deeply fractured."
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