Chemours, DuPont de Nemours, and Corteva have agreed to a settlement with the State of New Jersey valued at over $2 billion to resolve environmental lawsuits over contamination from PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” and other pollutants that originated from four industrial sites in New Jersey.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette announced the proposed settlement on Monday, saying it was the largest environmental settlement ever achieved by a single state.
The settlement, which is subject to U.S. District Court approval, resolves lawsuits over contamination linked to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are synthetic chemicals that have been manufactured in the U.S. since the 1940s to make a variety of household, consumer, and industrial products. These so-called “forever chemicals” accumulate in the environment and in the human body and are classified as likely carcinogens.
The companies have agreed to pay $875 million in damages to the state over 25 years; create a remediation funding source of up to $1.2 billion; and establish an additional reserve fund of $475 million that Platkin said would ensure taxpayers are not left with the bill if any of the companies goes bankrupt or fails to fulfill their responsibilities.
According to a statement issued by the three companies, Chemours will be responsible for 50% of settlement payments, DuPont will be responsible for 35.5% of settlement payments, and Corteva will be responsible for the remaining 14.5% of settlement payments.
The proposed settlement will resolve all legacy contamination claims related to the companies’ current and former operating sites (Chambers Works, Parlin, Pompton Lakes and Repauno) as well as claims of statewide PFAS contamination unrelated to those sites, including from the use of aqueous film forming foam, a fire suppressant used to fight liquid fuel fires.
“This landmark settlement will advance New Jersey’s nation-leading PFAS abatement efforts, improve drinking water quality, and restore injured natural resources,” DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said on Monday. “This resolution embodies the steadfast commitment of the Department of Environmental Protection and our Attorney General to hold all PFAS polluters to account, and to protect public health, safety, and the environment from these harmful chemicals.”
The settlement will be published in the New Jersey Register and available for public comment soon.
History of the Industrial Sites
Manufacturing and industrial activities began on these four industrial sites in the late 1800s and early 1900s and continue to this day at the Chambers Works and Parlin sites.
The Pompton Lakes Works site in Pompton Lakes and Wanaque, Passaic County, manufactured explosives, producing lead azide, aluminum and bronze shelled blasting caps, metal wires, and aluminum and copper shells at the site. DuPont’s operations and waste management practices resulted in the discharge and release of hazardous substances and pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, such as trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, and metals, such as lead and mercury, into the streams, rivers, and lakes, as well as the groundwater, soils, sediments, wetlands, and other natural resources at and around the site.
The Chambers Works facility, in Pennsville and Carney’s Point, Salem County, began making gunpowder and other explosives and later transitioned to dyes and chemicals, including the use of PFAS in the 1950s. The Chambers Works is one of the most contaminated sites in New Jersey, with pollutants that include semi-volatile organic compounds, volatile organic compounds, metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and PFAS.
DuPont began operating the Parlin site as a chemical manufacturing plant in 1904. PFAS and other contamination has been found in the surface waters, groundwater, soils, sediments, air, wetlands, and other natural resources on and around the site in Sayreville, Middlesex County.
The Repauno site in Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, began as another DuPont explosives and chemicals facility, and the company’s first research laboratory was located here. Hazardous waste was disposed of in unlined landfills, sand tar pits, pipes and ditch basins, contaminating surface water, groundwater, soils, sediments, wetlands, and biota.
Platkin said New Jersey is a national leader in assessing and responding to environmental and public health risks presented by PFAS. In 2019, DEP issued a Statewide PFAS Directive to DuPont, 3M, Solvay and other companies, ordering them to address their contribution to the injury of numerous environmentally sensitive natural resources, including regional potable groundwater resources. Lawsuits against those companies, and others, followed.
In May 2025, Dupont’s co-defendant 3M agreed to pay up to $450 million over 25 years for PFAS contamination at the Chambers Works and Parlin sites and throughout the state. The 3M settlement, which is subject to court approval, was published in the New Jersey Register on July 21 and comments can be submitted through Sept. 19.
In 2023, Solvay Specialty Polymers agreed to spend $393 million to ensure the remediation of contamination and compensate the public for PFAS contamination near Solvay’s facility in West Deptford, Gloucester County. Co-defendant Arkema, Inc., recently agreed to settle its responsibility for contamination at the same site, including paying $33.95 million for remediation and damages combined and guaranteeing $75 million for a reserve fund.
