Protect Public Health: No more PFAS discharge in the Ohio River!

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Protect public health: No more PFAS discharges in the Ohio River!

Chemours has been manufacturing PFAS at their Washington Works facility in Wood County for decades. The local water is already so contaminated that Chemours must treat for existing PFAS before they discharge more PFAS-laden water back into the Ohio River.

Despite the company claiming to be a good neighbor, Chemours has been out of compliance regularly and profits from passing the cost of pollution onto the community.

Now, Chemours has applied for a second permit at their Washington Works facility to discharge additional PFAS chemicals, including Gen-X, into the Ohio River.

EPA knows Gen-X harms human health even in tiny concentrations and has found that exposure can lead to cancer and other illnesses. The Ohio River is already overburdened with PFAS chemicals and above EPA's 2022 Interim Updated PFOA and PFOS Health Advisories for 1 PFAS chemical- PFOA (Teflon / C8).

Tell DEP to reject the second permit application for Chemours to protect the health of the Mid-Ohio Valley. These communities have suffered from health disparities from PFAS contamination for far too long.

You can view our fact sheet here and the permit application here.

WVDEP is accepting public comments on this permit application until 5pm on Thursday, March 14th, 2024. To submit public comments, you can:

Comment online through WV Rivers’ Action Alert tool NOW.
Email DEP.Comments@wv.gov with ‘Application No. WV0117986’ in the subject
Mail written comments referencing ‘Application No. WV0117986’ to:

Director, Division of Water and Management, DEP
ATTN: Sharon Mullins, Permitting Section
601 57th Street SE

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ATTN: Sharon Mullins, Permitting Section Director, Division of Water and Management, DEP

Subject: Application No. WV0117986

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I am writing to request DEP reject permit application No. WV0117986, submitted by The Chemours Company FC, LLC for the facility in Washington, WV. The Chemours Washington Works facility already has an existing NPDES permit, Permit No. WV0001279, which allows discharges of PFAS into the Ohio River. That permit expired in July 2023. WVDEP should be working to reduce PFAS discharges from all the facility’s discharges instead of rushing to allow Chemours to discharge even more PFAS into the Ohio River. WVDEP should reject this permit application and incorporate it into the re-issuance of the existing NPDES permit. Additionally, WVDEP’s draft permit would only impose limits on two PFAS—HFPO-DA and PFOA. Although the permit requires monitoring for 38 other PFAS, there are no limits, WVDEP is only requiring the facility to report the levels at which they are discharging those chemicals. However, prior testing shows that additional PFAS can be expected in the discharges from this new facility. WVDEP must require concentration limits for all PFAS that may be present in the discharges. Furthermore, this facility has a history of non-compliance and should not be granted leniency for additional discharges of toxic chemicals into the Ohio River. There is no more assimilative capacity for PFAS in the Ohio River. Given EPA’s 2022 interim health advisory for PFOA, 0.004 ppt, PFOA is already at unsafe levels in the Ohio River. Finally, Parkersburg and surrounding Wood County have some of the lowest rates of life expectancy and highest disability rates in the nation. These communities have already been overburdened by the cost of pollution for decades. WVDEP must prioritize public health and prohibit this facility from discharging increased levels of PFAS. For the reasons stated above, we implore you to reject this permit. Thank you for your careful consideration of these comments.

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Protect public health: No more PFAS discharges in the Ohio River!

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Protect public health: No more PFAS discharges in the Ohio River!

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