WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit by chemical company Chemours that claims the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acted unlawfully when issuing a health advisory warning of the risks on forever chemical GenX in drinking water.
Chemours has admitted to dumping forever chemicals into the Cape Fear River for years.
“The health advisory identifies a level of GenX in drinking water that’s 10 parts per trillion, that if the water contains contamination below that level, there likely won’t be any adverse impacts,” Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council Sarah Tallman said.
Tallman says the advisory is not legally binding, but it helps communities understand how their water is impacted.
Environmental groups are calling it a win for public health.
“The rivers and streams, they belong to the people they don’t belong to the chemical companies,” Emily Donovan with Clean Cape Fear noted.
However, Chemours questions the science behind the advisory.
In a statement to WECT, a spokesperson with Chemours said:
Chemours has challenged – along with groups of drinking water providers and manufacturers – the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCL) for drinking water which utilize, in part, the same scientifically unsound analysis. We look forward to having the D.C. Circuit consider the merits of our arguments in connection with our pending challenge to the EPA’s MCL regulation.
Tallman says the court striking down Chemours’ lawsuit will keep the EPA’s health advisory in place.
“The court’s rejection of Chemours’s attack on the health advisory itself means the EPA can continue to issue health advisories to inform the public, to inform communities in North Carolina about potential risks in their drinking water and about the health impacts of toxic chemicals.”
In April, the EPA also issued a legally binding regulation of GenX in tap water.
Chemours has filed a lawsuit challenging those regulations as well, which is still pending in the Court of Appeals.
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