Wilmington, NC — Richard Collier, candidate for Wilmington City Council, is voicing his strong support for House Bill 569, the PFAS Pollution and Polluter Liability Act, which recently passed the North Carolina House by an overwhelming margin of 104 to 3.
“For years, the people of Wilmington have been paying the price for Chemours’ pollution—and that price shows up in our monthly water bills,” said Collier. “Clean water is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. This bill is long overdue and it’s exactly the kind of policy we need to protect our health, our environment, and our wallets.”
House Bill 569, sponsored by Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County, holds PFAS manufacturers financially accountable when their pollution leads to over $50 million in cleanup costs for public utilities. The bill directly targets manufacturers like Chemours, whose discharges of toxic PFAS chemicals like GenX into the Cape Fear River have cost local utilities tens of millions of dollars in treatment upgrades.
Wilmington’s Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) has spent over $80 million responding to PFAS contamination, adding roughly $5 per month to customer bills.
“Wilmington ratepayers have been footing the bill for years while Chemours avoided responsibility,” Collier added. “This bill brings fairness back to the table. If you pollute our water, you should pay to clean it up.”
The legislation applies retroactively to costs incurred since January 1, 2017, ensuring utilities like CFPUA can seek reimbursement. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, it would also require utilities to return those funds to ratepayers—through refunds, bill credits, or future rate reductions.
Collier praised Rep. Davis’s leadership: “Ted Davis fought for five years to get this done. I commend his persistence and partnership with both sides of the aisle to pass a bill that puts our community first.”
