Dutch court finds Chemours liable for environmental damage caused by PFAS

U.S. chemical company Chemours' site in Dordrecht, Netherlands, is liable for environmental damage in the Netherlands caused by PFAS chemicals between 1984 and at least 1998, according to a ruling from a court in Rotterdam.

The Rotterdam District Court ruled Sept. 27 in an interim judgment in the civil case brought against the company by the municipalities of Dordrecht Papendrecht, Sliedrecht and Molenlanden.

The court found that, while Chemours—then part of DuPont Co.—complied with its permit before July 1984, the company’s emissions of the PFAS variant PFOA between 1984 and 1998 constituted an unlawful act. Aware of the dangers, DuPont withheld important information about the potentially hazardous emissions, thus failing to adequately inform the authorities granting the permit, the judgment states.

The court will decide at a later date whether Chemours is also liable for environmental damage in the region after 1998. The court could not yet determine whether the emissions occurring between 1998 and 2012 were also illegal.

However, the court held that emissions of another substance, GenX, were not unlawful as the towns could not provide sufficient evidence of the danger presented by the relatively low emission levels since 2012.

The fact that the court has ruled in favor of the municipalities on important points opens the door for damage proceedings. The municipalities are seeking to recover the costs of the clean-up from Chemours.

The present ruling is unconnected to the other class action cases pending before the courts. In August, lawyer Benedicte Ficq opened a mass claim against all managers of the Chemours plant since 1962 for their alleged knowledge of the fact that they were releasing harmful chemicals into the environment for years. Ficq represents at least 2,700 complainants who support the accusation of “deliberate and illegal” pollution of groundwater, air and soil, specifically by releasing the carcinogens PFOA and GenX.

Chemours said that it wanted to study the judgment and could therefore not comment on it at this time. The company said it will act independently of the legal procedures: "We hear the residents' concerns around our location in Dordrecht and they affect us. Today Chemours would like to express its intention to discuss with both municipalities and other stakeholders how concrete actions can be taken as quickly as possible.”