North Carolina Sues Company Over Creek Pollution Clean-Up

A chemical company in Durham faces a lawsuit that could finally bring relief to neighbors who've watched toxic pollution flow through their community for decades.

North Carolina's attorney general filed suit Monday against Brenntag Mid-South, demanding the company stop discharging chemicals into a neighborhood creek. The creek runs behind an elementary school, through a park in a predominantly Black neighborhood, and into a major drinking water supply.

State regulatory documents show the company has released high levels of toxic substances for years, including known carcinogens like benzene. Testing in March revealed more than half a dozen chemicals exceeded state safety standards in the groundwater.

The lawsuit asks the court to require Brenntag to submit a cleanup plan within 30 days. The state says the company has repeatedly missed deadlines and failed to file required documents, despite being cited multiple times over the past year.

"I'm thrilled that the attorney general is intervening in this longstanding environmental injustice in Durham," said City Councilman Nate Baker. "The residents living around Burton Park and further downstream have suffered too long."

Brenntag Mid-South is a subsidiary of a German chemical giant that reported $1 billion in profits in just the first quarter of this year. The company purchased the Durham property in 2001, which sits on the site of a former cotton mill from the 1800s.

State inspectors have found leaking and rusted chemical barrels at the facility as recently as November. Since the city issued a no-discharge order in 2023, the company has installed a treatment system and started shipping contaminated water off-site.

The Bright Side

This lawsuit represents a turning point for environmental justice in Durham. State regulators are drawing a hard line, refusing to grant more extensions and demanding concrete action.

The legal action shows that communities don't have to accept pollution as the price of industry. When companies fail to act voluntarily, strong enforcement can protect public health and drinking water.

Residents who've lived with this contamination for years finally have powerful allies fighting for their right to clean water.