NC Reaches $590M PFAS Settlement with DuPont/Chemours

North Carolina's attorney general has secured a $590 million agreement with DuPont, Chemours, and sister company Corteva to resolve claims of widespread PFAS contamination from the Fayetteville Works plant. The settlement allocates $455 million to the state and eleven local governments over the next 10 to 15 years, with the state's $75 million share partly funding a new Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund to help local entities address water contamination. The remaining $380 million is designated for the local governments that had sued the companies.

This settlement is a significant development for any company with legacy or ongoing PFAS liability, as it provides another major data point on the financial risks involved. The deal's structure is also noteworthy: it establishes a $135 million reserve fund to guarantee that Chemours can fulfill its long-term cleanup duties under a 2019 consent order with the state's environmental agency. This backstop mechanism could serve as a model in other jurisdictions, ensuring that corporate restructurings do not leave the public to bear the cost of long-tail remediation. Counsel should monitor how this settlement model is leveraged by other state attorneys general.