Few North Carolinians had even heard of the Chemours Company before 2017. Two years earlier, the company didn’t even exist. Before that, DuPont operated the chemical plant on the Bladen county line for almost four decades. Just steps ahead of the revelation that its Fayetteville Works facility had been illegally dumping chemicals into the Cape Fear River for almost 40 years, the international chemical giant spun off the Chemours Company to operate the plant.
Chemours’ image problems began when The Wilmington Star News revealed the company’s environmental misdeeds. State investigations have been ongoing ever since researchers found GenX and other chemicals in the Cape Fear River and in private wells around the plant. The $8B company has also been cited for multiple state air pollution violations related to its Fayetteville plant.
Now, the tide has turned and Chemours is being lauded as a good corporate citizen.
Last year, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) trade group awarded Chemours the 2021 Sustainability Leadership Award in the Product Safety, Innovation, and Transparency category for EVOLVE 2030, a Chemours-developed, third-party validated method designed to scientifically quantify the company's contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Chemours was also named to Investor’s Business Daily’s list of 100 Best ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) Companies which recognizes companies that combine superior stock rating with social values.
However, the most surprising award came from Newsweek magazine. For the second time, the publication named Chemours one of America’s Most Responsible Companies based on environmental, social, and governance metrics. According to the stated criteria, companies selected for the honor can not be involved in major lawsuits or scandals.
In October, the company was hit with a $305,611 fine, the largest in North Carolina history, for exceeding the GenX annual air emissions limit for five months. The company appealed the penalty.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) is suing Chemours and Dupont to recoup the millions of dollars the utility company has spent to address the impact of decades of unpermitted dumping on residents.
So how on earth did the company responsible for continued illegal chemical dumping and still involved in numerous lawsuits for PFAS pollution receive such an honor? That’s the question posed by CFPUA Executive Director Kenneth Waldroup posed to Newsweek’s Global Editor in Chief.
“The list of just really horrible things that this company has done to people, us, downstream is very long,” Waldroup wrote in a letter questioning the listing. “It’s just outrageous that they would be on any list of a good corporate citizen by any measure. As such, I urge you to remove Chemours from your 2022 list and any future listing until it steps forward to live its stated corporate values by doing what is right for customers, colleagues, and communities ‘always.’ This simple action will significantly increase the legitimacy of this and future ‘Most Responsible Companies’ lists and increase the value to companies chosen for this important designation.”
The Chemours Company is no longer on Newsweek’s list of Most Responsible Companies.
