Kelley Drye Congratulates the State of North Carolina on Nearly $600 Million PFAS-Related Environmental Contamination Settlement 

RALEIGH, NC (September 14, 2026) – Kelley Drye is pleased to congratulate North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson, and the entire State of North Carolina team on securing a $590 settlement with Chemours, DuPont and Corteva – the largest total environmental damages recovery in the state’s history. Together with the nearly $1.2 billion Chemours has already spent to comply with the state’s 2019 consent order, state and local governments have recovered nearly $2 billion in total value for North Carolina and its residents.

The settlement resolves litigation brought by the State and 11 local governments against Chemours, DuPont and their affiliates for decades of discharges of PFAS ​“forever chemicals” into neighboring communities and the Cape Fear River, impacting the drinking water of over 500,000 North Carolinians. The settlement recovers $455 million in PFAS-treatment costs and natural resource damages, and also secures $135 million in financial assurance from DuPont to stand behind the remediation obligations of Chemours under the 2019 consent order. 

“We are incredibly proud to represent the State of North Carolina and to support Attorney General Jeff Jackson and his team in holding these companies accountable for decades of PFAS contamination that harmed communities across the Cape Fear region,” said William J. Jackson, partner in Kelley Drye’s environmental practice group. Kenny Corley, lead trial counsel on the matter, said, ​“This settlement represents an important step forward in addressing the impacts of PFAS contamination and securing meaningful relief for affected communities. This settlement will help support efforts to address PFAS contamination and ensure that residents across southeastern North Carolina have access to clean, safe water.”

Under the terms of the agreement, $455 million in guaranteed payments will be made to the State and local governments over the next 10 to 15 years, with $75 million allocated to the State, including roughly $55 million directed to an Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund recently created by the North Carolina General Assembly to support local efforts to detect and reduce contaminants in drinking water. The remaining $380 million will be divided among 11 affected local governments, including Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Robeson and Sampson Counties, the Town of Wrightsville Beach, the City of Lumberton, the Village of Bald Head Island, and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.

The settlement also establishes a $135 million reserve fund from DuPont and Corteva to support Chemours’ ongoing obligations under the 2019 consent order. The agreement reinforces NCDEQ’s enforcement of those obligations, which include measures to reduce PFAS discharges and migration, control air emissions, address contaminated groundwater and stormwater, and provide clean drinking water to families with contaminated wells. The reserve fund will help ensure that families receiving clean drinking water continue to have access to it if Chemours is unable to meet its obligations. 

The Kelley Drye team, led by Corley, included Partners Bill Jackson, Melissa Byroade, Laura Duncan, Levi Downing, Elizabeth Krasnow, and David Zalman; Special Counsel Ivan Morales, Frances Morris, Lauren Shah, Nancy Yanochik, and Curt Marshall; Senior Associate Fanny Turcios; Associate Maria Pimienta; and paralegal Charity Smith, and a large team of other firm attorneys and professional staff. The North Carolina Attorney General’s team was led by Asher Spiller, Laura Howard and Marc Bernstein. 

For decades, the lawyers at Kelley Drye have been fortunate to represent public sector clients, including states, attorneys general, local governments, and other public entities, in historic and complex natural resource damages and environmental contamination cases, including the State of Louisiana in the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Spill, the single largest environmental and natural resource damages recovery in history. The firm recently represented the State of New Jersey in securing a landmark settlement valued at more than $2 billion with DuPont and a historic settlement with 3M — the largest environmental recovery for a single state in U.S. history. Together with these PFAS and other recoveries for the States of North Carolina and New Jersey, Kelley Drye’s Environmental Litigation team has recovered tens of billions of dollars in remediation costs, property damages, natural resource damages, lost tax revenues, and other remedies for the public. 

More information about Kelley Drye’s complex Environmental Litigation and Natural Resource Damages services can be found at www​.kel​leydrye​.com.