PARKERSBURG, WV (WOAY) – In a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition is alleging that for years, the Chemours Washington Works facility located just outside of Parkersburg has been releasing PFAS chemicals into the Ohio River. According to that lawsuit, the company is exceeding its legally permitted discharge limits on a vast scale.
“The Washington Works facility has been a chronic violator of their permit for quite some time. So we’re talking about, you know, decades of pollution that the community and the users of the Ohio River have experienced related to their discharges of the PFAS chemicals,” Autumn Crowe, Deputy Director for WV Rivers Coalition said.
At the center of the case is HFPO-DA, commonly known as GenX, a toxic PFAS chemical linked to liver damage, developmental issues, and immune system dysfunction. According to court filings, Chemours has repeatedly violated its Clean Water Act permit by releasing GenX at levels 454% above legal limits at one discharge point and 166% over the limit at another.
The Ohio River supplies drinking water to roughly five million people across West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Water from the river flows downstream to major cities such as Huntington, Cincinnati, and Louisville.
“There’s approximately five million people that drink the waters that come from the Ohio River, it’s putting a burden on the water utilities to have to then take that contaminant out of their source water to be able to provide safe water to their customers,” Crowe said.
As part of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, Chemours is legally required to monitor and report its discharges. The evidence used in the lawsuit is self-reported test data, which confirms that GenX levels far exceed federal and state limits.
“Neither of our regulatory agencies have done any enforcement and in the meantime, Chemours is discharging this toxic chemical into the Ohio River, impacting people’s drinking water supplies,” Crowe said.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is responsible for enforcing state-level compliance. West Virginia Rivers Coalition says that it isn’t happening. The EPA issued a consent order against Chemours in 2023, but that order was never finalized, and the pollution has continued.
Chemours has admitted its current filtration system is inadequate and has asked for three years to fix the problem. If granted, that would mean three more years of GenX pollution in the Ohio River, with no regulatory oversight ensuring compliance in the meantime.
“They do have filters at the facility. But what’s happening is that they are not able to meet their permit limits. So something is happening at the facility that is exceeding the allowable limit of the contaminant that they’re allowed to discharge,” Crowe said.
The lawsuit seeks a court-ordered injunction forcing Chemours to comply with its permit immediately. Chemours has until March 11 to file its response in court. If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, Chemours could be forced to do whatever is necessary to stop the current discharge.
“Our hope at West Virginia Rivers is that the court sees that this is a severe problem and that they work with the company to implement a solution so that they are in compliance with their permit,” Crowe said.
Chemours is a spinoff of chemical giant DuPont, which has a long history of environmental contamination. Decades ago, DuPont was found to be knowingly dumping perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into the Ohio River and surrounding areas through the Washington Works facility. The C8 (PFOA) spill took place over several decades at DuPont’s Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia, where the company dumped perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, into the Ohio River and surrounding areas.
This resulted in multiple multi-billion dollar settlements paid out from 2017 to 2023, including over $600 million for personal injury lawsuits, $4 billion to cover future liabilities, and the most recent $1.185 billion for PFAS contamination worldwide. These compounds have been found in every living thing scientists have tested them for, including animals in the Arctic.
Chemours has not yet responded to a request for comment. WVDEP was also contacted for a response, but we have heard nothing back.
