August 04, 2025
Provided Image/New Jersey OAG
DuPont's former Chambers Works industrial site in Pennsville and Carneys Point is one of four sites in New Jersey covered by a settlement potentially worth over $2 billion related to PFAS contamination by three chemical companies.
New Jersey has reached a settlement potentially worth over $2 billion with DuPont and two other chemical companies to resolve a lawsuit over decades of PFAS contamination at four industrial sites in the state, officials announced Monday.
The agreement is billed as the largest environmental settlement ever made by a state and marks New Jersey's third deal in the last three years to address long-term impacts of the "forever chemicals," which have been linked to a wide range of public health concerns.
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“Polluters who place profit above public well-being by releasing poisonous PFAS and other contamination in our State can expect to be held responsible to clean up their mess and fully compensate the State and its citizens for the precious natural resources they’ve damaged or destroyed,” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said in a statement Monday.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who filed the federal lawsuit in 2019, called PFAS "insidious" and said New Jersey has some of the nation's highest levels of the synthetic chemicals. Many were used in consumer products — everything from non-stick cookware to water-resistant clothing — and they also historically have been used to manufacture firefighting foams.
At industrial sites with no remediation, PFAS have contaminated soil and groundwater for decades without breaking down. Human exposure has been associated with increased cancer risk, developmental problems in children and other diseases.
The consent order with Wilmington-based DuPont, as well as its spinoff Chemours and Corteva, includes settlement payments totaling $875 million over 25 years and a remediation fund up to $1.2 billion to clean up the four sites. A reserve fund of up to $475 million will be established to cover responsibilities in case any of the companies involved go bankrupt or fail to meet their obligations.
Two of the industrial sites covered by the lawsuit are in South Jersey. The Repauno site in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County was once use by DuPont for manufacturing explosives and other chemicals that produced hazardous waste left in landfills and other disposal areas. DuPont's Chambers Works facility in Pennsville and Carneys Point — both in Salem County — also was originally used to make gunpowder and other explosives before it was transitioned to dyes and other chemicals containing PFAS in the 1950s.
The two other remediation sites are the Pompton Lakes Works in Passaic County and the Parlin site in Middlesex County.
In a statement Monday, the three chemical companies said the settlement resolves "all pending environmental and other claims" by New Jersey. Chemours will be responsible for about 50% of the settlement payments, DuPont will cover 35.5% and Corteva will pay 14.5%. Before the settlement was reached, a trial in the case had started in May in U.S. District Court in Camden. Prosecutors alleged DuPont had spun off Chemours in 2015 in an attempt to avoid liability for PFAS contamination.
"I am pleased that the companies agreed to a settlement rather than continue with the trial," Platkin said.
In May, New Jersey reached a $450 million settlement with chemical company 3M to resolve lawsuits over PFAS at manufacturing sites in Pennsville and Sayreville. Two years ago, the state also reached a $393 million settlement with Solvay Specialty Polymers over contamination at a site in West Deptford.
The settlement reached Monday is still subject to final approval by the U.S. District Court.
“This landmark settlement will advance New Jersey’s nation-leading PFAS abatement efforts, improve drinking water quality, and restore injured natural resources," LaTourette said.
Most of the settlement funds will be used for a combination of site remediation, restoration of impacted natural resources and drinking water treatment in contaminated areas, the attorney general’s office said. About $125 million will go toward penalties and punitive damages.
