A new investigation by human rights experts appointed by the United Nations has expressed alarm at evidence of pollution from a North Carolina PFAS manufacturing plant, describing it as “alleged human rights violations and abuses against residents”.
The ongoing PFAS crisis in North Carolina has been linked to a Fayetteville Works plant operated by Chemours, a chemical giant that was spun off from DuPont in 2015.
Many public health officials and residents suspect the “forever chemical” pollution is behind widespread health problems in the region.
The United Nations human rights council has released publicly the allegation letters its experts sent to Chemours and four other parties alleged to play a role in the problem. The letters were signed by five UN special rapporteurs, who are independent experts appointed by the council, who said they were acting after information had come to their attention.
The letter to Chemours cited extensive evidence that the plant has contaminated the air, soil, water and food supply in south-east North Carolina, and regulators have failed to rein in the pollution.
It also charged “purposeful suppression and concealment” of the PFAS dangers by DuPont and Chemours.
“We are especially concerned about DuPont and Chemours’ apparent disregard for the wellbeing of community members, who have been denied access to clean and safe water for decades,” the UN experts wrote in a letter to Chemours. They asked for a response to their observations, which the letter explains are shared in cases or over policies which are considered “not to be fully compatible with international human rights standards”.
In a response to the allegations, Chemours said the UN letter was full of “mischaracterizations” and touted its recent efforts to reduce pollution levels.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 14,000 chemicals often used to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they are virtually indestructible, and are linked to cancer, liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, decreased immunity and other serious health problems.
The commission’s investigation is its first into a US environmental crisis. A citizens group working with the University of California Berkeley Environmental Law Clinic in April filed a communication with the UN that requested the body’s intervention, and redress from the violations.
Residents say they have been denied the right to clean water, bodily integrity, information, an effective remedy, and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. A special rapporteur fact-checked the allegations in the communication, then issued five allegation letters to those it claims bear some responsibility for the crisis.
That includes Chemours and DuPont. It also criticized the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for allegedly failing to protect residents, chemical producer Corteva, and the Netherlands government, which is allowing PFAS waste to be shipped to Fayetteville.
Among other allegations, the UN notes Chemours has discharged dozens of toxic chemicals into the Cape Fear River, which has contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people. Some live as much as 100 miles downstream from Fayetteville Works. The plant spit PFAS waste into the air unabated until 2019, the report alleges, which further contaminated drinking water sources once the chemicals landed on the ground and percolated into groundwater.
The UN letter also noted research that detected Chemours’ chemicals in fish and crops, as well as 97% of blood samples tested in the region. It charges that DuPont and Chemours knew of the dangers, but hid them from residents and its own workers.
The letter cited evidence of the companies withholding toxicity data and the volumes of pollution emitted from the plant, and charged Chemours only took meaningful action after it was court-ordered to do so.
“Even as DuPont and Chemours had information about the toxic impacts of PFAS on human health, the companies continued to spread disinformation about PFAS,” the letter stated.
In its response, Chemours wrote that it “has taken a broad and unprecedented set of actions, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, to eliminate almost all PFAS discharges from Fayetteville Works”.
Corteva and the Netherlands also responded to the letters; DuPont and the EPA have not yet responded. The UN does not formally make a final judgment on whether the US, Chemours and other letter recipients are violating human rights.
The UN still may issue a public press statement, said Claudia Polsky, director of the University of California Berkeley Environmental Law Clinic. Regardless, the investigation puts an enormous amount of pressure on regulators to act, she added.
The EPA recently paused the shipments of PFAS waste from the Netherlands to Fayetteville, and the North Carolina department of environmental quality is considering a Chemours proposal to expand PFAS production at the plant.
“This will increase the temperature around that issue,” Polsky said.
