PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuit Lawsuit in North Carolina

Federal PFAS claims are centralized in MDL 2873 (In re: AFFF Products Liability Litigation) in the District of South Carolina (Charleston) before Judge Richard M. Gergel — directly adjacent to North Carolina. NC plaintiffs file into MDL 2873 for coordinated proceedings. North Carolina is also ground zero for GenX (HFPO-DA) PFAS contamination from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant on the Cape Fear River — one of the most significant industrial PFAS contamination cases in U.S. history.

3M's $10.3 billion water utility settlement (December 2023) and the DuPont/Chemours/Corteva $1.185 billion settlement cover eligible NC public water systems. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), serving Wilmington and New Hanover County, has been among the most prominent water utility PFAS plaintiffs nationally. Separately, Chemours agreed to fund GenX remediation in NC under a 2022 consent order with NC DEQ.

North Carolina's statute of limitations for personal injury is 3 years under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16). NC applies a discovery rule for latent disease claims (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16)) — limitations runs from when the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its PFAS cause. North Carolina also enacted the PFAS Public Health Study Act (2019) and has pursued PFAS accountability through the NC Department of Justice.

North Carolina has among the nation's most documented PFAS contamination: Chemours Fayetteville Works (Bladen County — Cape Fear River GenX contamination affecting Wilmington and downstream communities), Camp Lejeune (Jacksonville — separate PFAS/solvent contamination; also subject to PACT Act claims), Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (Craven County), Seymour Johnson AFB (Goldsboro, Wayne County), Pope Army Airfield (Cumberland County), and agricultural PFAS biosolids contamination in the Duplin and Sampson County hog farming regions.