NORTH CAROLINA — The Department of Environmental Quality joined New Jersey and New Mexico in a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting the designation of four PFAS compounds as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
READ MORE: EPA designates 2 PFAS as hazardous substances, increases liability risk for producers
The Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA to add toxic substances to its Hazardous Air Pollutant list based on periodic reviews or citizen petitions. HAP designation requires EPA to achieve the maximum feasible reduction in emissions through technology-based controls.
The environmental agencies wrote the law contained “a sense of urgency.” Each of the four proposed HAP compounds are found in high concentration in the three states. The chemicals include:
- · PFOA (perflurooctanoic acid)
- · PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)
- · PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid)
- · GenX (HFPO dimer acid)
DEQ’s 2019 consent order with Chemours requires the issuance of an air permit with PFAS limits and invest in a $100 million thermal oxidizer control system to reduce emissions. Chemours and the DEQ found air emissions had reduced 99% due to the consent order, but a January Guardian investigation found the companies’ PFAS air emissions were as much as 30 times higher than the company reported.
Petitioners stated decades of unregulated PFAS air emissions from Chemours and DuPont in North Carolina have left a hydrologic footprint in the groundwater spanning four counties.
“The EPA has been proactive in addressing PFAS and supporting efforts to address PFAS contamination in our states,” North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser said in a press release Thursday. “Adding these forever chemicals to the list of regulated pollutants addresses a gap in our regulatory authority and makes it possible to tackle a critical part of the PFAS life cycle: air emissions.”
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