The owner of the largest landfill in North Carolina has reached a legal agreement to stop pollution of “forever chemicals” and address environmental injustice.
The Environmental Justice Community Action Network filed a proposed agreement Friday with GFL Environmental Inc. that would attempt to eliminate PFAS discharge to surface waters at the Sampson County Landfill in southeastern North Carolina.
The nearly 1,000-acre landfill owned by GFL accepts over 1.8 million tons of waste every year. Under the agreement, the company would reduce its discharge of human-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from approximately 1,000 parts per trillion to 4 parts per trillion — the lowest level that EPA has determined laboratories can measure.
GFL would also decline new contracts for PFAS-contaminated waste from military bases and firefighting foams. Industrial manufacturers have been sending PFAS-contaminated waste to the site for decades, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the Environmental Justice Community Action Network.