"After decades of PFAS contamination, North Carolina’s attorney general is challenging an EPA proposal to narrow reporting requirements for toxic 'forever chemicals.'"

"North Carolina, long treated as a dumping ground for toxic “forever chemicals,” now finds itself at the center of a national debate over chemical regulation and public transparency.

Just months before chemical companies were expected to disclose what PFAS (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) they manufacture or import and in what amounts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to scale back the rule that would have made that information public.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is joining attorneys general from more than a dozen other states in opposing the proposal, arguing it would sharply limit transparency at a critical moment for communities already dealing with widespread contamination.

For North Carolina, the issue is not abstract. The state has spent nearly a decade grappling with PFAS pollution after chemicals discharged into the Cape Fear River Basin contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents downstream of the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant. The contamination went undisclosed for years, forcing utilities to install costly filtration systems and reshaping environmental policy across the region."

Liz McLaughlin reports for WRAL January 12, 2026. [2]