Chemours, Corteva, Dupont reach $590M settlement with NC over PFAS lawsuits
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The three chemical companies that dumped forever chemicals into North Carolina’s rivers for decades have reached a $590 million settlement to resolve several lawsuits in the state.
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The settlement, announced Thursday, is the “largest state environmental damages recovery in North Carolina history,” a spokesperson for N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson told The N&O. It also comes days before Jackson and his staff were set to argue a contentious state Supreme Court case against the three companies — Chemours, DuPont and Corteva.
Under the settlement, Chemours, DuPont and Corteva will pay a total of $455 million to North Carolina authorities over the next 15 years, according to a Thursday news release from Chemours. $380 million will be paid to 11 local authorities that were impacted by the companies’ PFAS pollution, while another $75 million will be paid to the state. Chemours will pay for half of the $455 million, and DuPont and Corteva will pay the other half.
On top of that, DuPont and Corteva will also establish a $135 million reserve fund to “guarantee this work will continue,” Jackson’s spokesperson said.
The 11 local authorities getting settlement payments are Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Robeson and Sampson counties, and the Town of Wrightsville Beach, City of Lumberton, Village of Bald Head Island and Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.
North Carolina has been seeking damages from the three companies since 2017, when officials discovered that Chemours had been knowingly discharging forever chemicals, known as PFAS, from its Fayetteville Works industrial plant in Cumberland County and into the Cape Fear River.
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DuPont had owned the Fayetteville Works plant since the 1970s, and in 2015 spun Chemours off into its own company. Corteva is another independent company that split from DuPont in 2019, but DuPont and Corteva both share legal liabilities with Chemours for historical pollution at the site.
Drinking water contaminated with PFAS can lead to cancers and developmental issues; the chemicals are extremely difficult to filter from water, and can remain in the human body indefinitely. PFAS are also found in various types of firefighting foams, which the new settlement also covers.
Jackson and other officials are expected to give more details on the settlement later today, and the full terms will be made public in the coming days.
This story will be updated.
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This story was originally published September 10, 2026 at 10:36 AM with the headline “Chemours, Corteva, Dupont reach $590M settlement with NC over PFAS lawsuits.”
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