New Jersey Company to Pay $393M in ‘Forever Chemical’ Case

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey company has reached a settlement agreement to pay $393 million to cover damages caused by dangerous chemicals that infiltrated public water systems and natural resources. 

The settlement between Solvay Specialty Polymers and New Jersey’s attorney general and the Department of Environmental Protection will consist of efforts to clean up and remedy the effects of polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals,” which are synthetic chemicals used in many consumer products. 

“For years, corporations, including Solvay, have put financial gain over our clean drinking water and the health of millions of people,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin. “This settlement is a historic step that requires Solvay to finally take meaningful responsibility for PFAS and other contamination at their site.”

The area is the largest single-site contamination cleanup in New Jersey’s history, spanning 37 square miles in Gloucester County around West Deptford and the Delaware River, with just over 20,000 affected residents. 

The conflict dates back to a lawsuit in 2020 when New Jersey alleged Solvay and two other corporations ignored a mandate to clean up contaminated areas linked to the West Deptford facility that has been in operation for more than 30 years. 

PFAS chemicals are incredibly difficult to break down and have been found to be present in water and soil as well as in the human body, which can lead to serious health conditions, such as cancer and other diseases. 

These chemicals can be found in cleaning products, nonstick cookware and other personal products such as shampoo or eye makeup. 

“Solvay knew what they were doing from day one — poisoning … the natural environment with ‘forever chemicals’ that never go away,” said Clean Water Action New Jersey State Director Amy Goldsmith. “It is unconscionable. Forcing Solvay to pay up and clean up is long overdue.”

The proposed settlement would require commitments from Solvay to fund chemical remediation efforts, provide support for systems and individuals that may have been impacted by the contamination and continue to investigate and prevent PFAS effects. 

“Solvay appreciates the collaborative approach taken by NJDEP to reach this agreement, allowing all parties to continue focusing on protecting the environment,” said Solvay CEO Ilham Kadri. “Consistent with our focus to innovate more sustainable solutions, we transitioned our West Deptford, New Jersey, facility to use non-fluorosurfactants technologies as of July 2021.”

The settlement announcement was welcomed by environmentalist advocacy groups who argue there needs to be more done to fight PFAS chemical contamination and believe other corporations also need to be held responsible. 

The agreement is subject to a 60-day public comment period and approval by a judge.

“After years of witnessing the pollution impacts from Solvay and advocating to make them, as the polluter, pay for the damage and stop their ongoing releases of toxics, we look forward to digging into the settlement documents to understand what is being done to make them accountable and clean up the pollution,” said Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network Tracy Carluccio. 

“The communities in the Delaware River region that have been indelibly harmed by Solvay and the highly toxic contamination they unleashed, have suffered terribly and need to benefit directly from whatever settlement is reached between DEP and Solvay,” Carluccio continued. 

State authorities have created a website — dep.nj.gov/solvay — for the public to review the details of the deal.

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