NCDEQ draft permit for Lear Corp. does not limit PFAS discharge despite backlash
Despite thousands of public comments demanding regulation, NCDEQ has yet to include emissions limits
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality could issue a permit giving the go-ahead for a company upstream to dump dangerous compounds into the Cape Fear River if a draft permit is approved.
In May, WWAY reported on a draft permit allowing the Lear Corporation in Kenansville to release unrestricted amounts of PFAS compounds into the Cape Fear River.
This comes years after a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against DuPont—now Chemours—over decades of PFAS pollution that caused adverse health effects to communities downstream. Chemours was later forced to curb its emissions.
PFAS chemicals have been shown to cause cancer, pregnancy defects, and thyroid disease. Since the health consequences of PFAS have come to light, local municipalities have spent millions filtering the compound out of drinking water supplies—as now required by law.
In response to the draft permit, more than 3,000 people urged NCDEQ to revise the permit to include PFAS limits.
Despite extending public comments twice, the latest permit drafted by NCDEQ still does not include restrictions on emissions.
“This new permit requires Lear to merely study its pollution that we already know exists, that Lear already know exists, and that the state already know exists,” Southern Environmental Law Center Attorney Hannah Nelson noted.
The EPA gives NCDEQ the authority and responsibility to regulate PFAS compounds to the fullest extent of the law. Yet so far, NCDEQ has chosen not to enforce emissions standards.
“It’s just a free pass for Lear to continue to pollute this river,” Nelson added.
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette with the Cape Fear River Watch feels NCDEQ is prioritizing industry over people.
“The department of the state that is tasked with protecting the environment and protecting human health, they’re turning around and saying ‘you know what? We’re not going to do that,” Burdette said. “We’re going to protect industry profits. We’re going to tell them to keep dumping, and then we’re going to tell people to pay extra to treat your water.”
WWAY reached out to the Lear Corporation for comment. The manufacturer sent us a statement that reads:
“We are currently working with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) on a permit renewal that adheres strictly to state regulatory guidelines and standards governing the use and disposal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). We have no additional comment as we continue following the NCDEQ process.”
NCDEQ has yet to make a final decision on whether to approve the draft permit or revise it. Burdette hopes the department does the right thing.
“It’s not right to issue a company a permit to discharge a dangerous toxic compound into a popular stretch of river where people fish and bring those fish home to eat,” he said.
WWAY also reached out to NCDEQ asking why the government body has yet to impose emissions limits in the draft permit. We were sent a statement that reads:
”NCDEQ’s Division of Water Resources is reviewing the public comments received on the draft permit. Those comments will be considered in the decision on the draft permit. A decision on the renewal has not been made this time.
The draft permit that was revised, and released for public comment, included requirements for Lear Corp to: characterize PFAS compounds used and processed at the plant and to perform studies of PFAS Best Management Practices (BMPs) as well as of best available technology (BAT) for reducing or eliminating PFAS from its process wastewaters.
The draft permit also included a condition for reopening the permit to impose limits for PFAS if federal technology-based effluent limitations become available, if state surface water quality standards or management practices for certain PFAS compounds are implemented, or if performance standards can be determined from the BAT study.”
