BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — Chemical company Chemours is planning an expansion, and many in the Cape Fear community are against the new development and spoke out against it last week.
Many people spoke out against the company last week in Brunswick County. This took place at a public information session hosted by the company on its planned expansion at the Fayetteville Works site in Bladen County. Many people in the Cape Fear Region disagree with this expansion after it was discovered that the company polluted the river with forever chemicals like Gen-X and PFAS.
What You Need To Know
- Chemistry company Chemours has polluted the Cape Fear river watershed with forever chemicals
- Chemours has been actively trying to decrease its emissions and plan to have 99% of the pollutants removed by 2030
- Chemours is planning on expanding its Fayetteville Works site, which is upsetting to many people in the Cape Fear Region who have been drinking the water that has been polluted with forever chemicals
People of all ages came to the Chemours information session to make their voices heard, including high schooler Fig Dell. She may be young, but she’s a fighter.
“On a normal Wednesday, I would be at school, practicing for my fall play, hanging out with my friends, but I am forced to be here,” Dell said. “I am forced to fight for the right of my friends and neighbors to be healthy.”
She’s fighting because she doesn’t want Chemours to expand its production after the company was blamed for forever chemicals, like Gen-x and PFAS polluting the Cape Fear River, which then ends up in the residents’ drinking water.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency says that exposure to those chemicals can have serious health effects that impacts the liver, kidneys and immune system, and can even cause cancer.
“We’re thirsty for all the things we could have had, for the health and prosperity we have lost,” Dell said. “We are thirsty because we can no longer turn on the faucet and drink safely.”
Many speakers shared their experience with those forever chemicals and the health issues they faced from being exposed to them.
“My best friend wants to be a chef, but she can’t because she’s pre-cancerous, already, at the age of 15,” Dell said. “My mom is having health issues, and we’ve only been drinking it for four years.”
She is worried for the future of her family and peers, like so many others who spoke out.
“My friends, my co-workers, my teachers, my grandparents, all of these people are forced to pay for a choice they did not make, my question is where is their brighter future?” Dell asked. “When is the future brighter for my 9-year-old sister when she can’t grow up big and strong because her hormones won’t stick to their receptors? Where is the brighter future for my friends who will inevitably get cancer because of the water they’re drinking? Where is their brighter future? The Cape Fear community deserves to be healthy and prosperous once again.”
Chemours says that its expansion won’t increase pollution. In fact, the company says it's already reduced air and water emissions dramatically and plan on having nearly 99% of the pollutants removed by 2030. But for the residents like Dell, that’s not enough.
“The expansion is going to hurt more people, it’s already all across the Cape Fear River Basin, and it’s going to spread more, it’s going to spread into other counties in North Carolina, it’s going to spread across the nation,” Dell said. “I don’t know, I just, it’s scary, it’s a big thing, but we can fight it if we join together as a community.”
Chemours has invested $400 million into reducing emissions and plans to continue work to further reduce those pollutants.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to Chemours for a statement with regard to the expansion and the protests. Chemours declined to comment.
