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WASHINGTON — <\/span>The Trump administration has reached a multi-state settlement with chemical giant Chemours Co. over years-long, illegal discharges of synthetic \u201cforever chemicals\u201d used to make products resistant to water, grease and stains. The settlement is the first by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims against a manufacturer of harmful chemicals known as PFAS.<\/a><\/p>\n The Associated Press learned details of the settlement filed in federal court in West Virginia ahead of an announcement expected later Wednesday. <\/p>\n Under the agreement, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million for alleged violations and spend $90 million over 15 years to mitigate PFAS discharges in three states: West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey. <\/p>\n Chemours, a spin-off of chemical maker DuPont, also agreed to install PFAS pollution controls for and surface water discharges and air emissions at a West Virginia facility at an estimated cost of $60 million, supply clean drinking water to communities near its West Virginia and New Jersey sites at an estimated cost of $280 million, and implement controls to reduce releases of PFAS and other toxic chemicals from its facility in North Carolina.<\/p>\n Combined, the penalties and relief programs are estimated to cost about $450 million, the Justice Department said. <\/p>\n The settlement allows Chemours to continue manufacturing PFAS for commercial and military applications while preventing future contamination and protecting communities from existing pollution, said Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration recognizes the important role of Chemours for it commercial and military obligations,” Gustafson said in an interview. \u201cThe settlement protects public health while preserving that important balance.\u201d <\/p>\n The settlement against a major PFAS manufacturer \u201cdelivers on the Trump administration\u2019s promise to make polluters pay and stop PFAS contamination at the source,\u201d said Jeffrey Hall, assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance. <\/p>\n The agreement will greatly reduce PFAS contamination of water, land and air and even begin to mitigate past harm, Hall said. \u201cThis settlement brings Chemours into compliance with the law and holds it fully accountable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The settlement comes as the Trump administration is expected to propose softening Biden-era limits<\/a> on \u201cforever chemicals\u201d in drinking water, while delaying but keeping tough standards for two common types of the substance.<\/p>\n The proposal will start the formal process of rolling back parts of the first-ever limits on PFAS in drinking water<\/a> finalized during former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration. Officials at the time found they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.<\/p>\n The agency is committed to addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water while following the law and ensuring that regulatory compliance is achievable<\/a> for drinking water systems, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said. <\/p>\n The settlement determined that facilities Chemours operates in the three states have discharged PFAS into the Ohio River, Cape Fear River and Delaware River, respectively, in violation of permits required by the Clean Water Act and state laws. Chemours also violated legal requirements under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act at all three facilities.<\/p>\n As a result of the alleged violations, people living near the facilities were exposed to illegal PFAS, officials said. PFAS<\/a> are widely used and found around the world, with scientific studies showing that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.<\/p>\n The violations continued for over a decade, the Justice Department said. The facilities were previously owned for many decades by DuPont. The settlement announced Wednesday does not resolve DuPont\u2019s liability for past PFAS violations, officials said.<\/p>\n A federal judge last year ordered Chemours<\/a> to stop discharging unlawful levels of cancer-causing chemicals into the Ohio River from the company\u2019s Washington Works plant in West Virginia. The pollutants endanger the environment, aquatic life and human health, U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin wrote in the August 2025 order.<\/p>\n The West Virginia Rivers Coalition had asked Goodwin to require the company to immediately comply with its permit limits after violating them for more than five years.<\/p>\n