Outraged mother fights back after major corporation threatens community's safety: 'A problem that we didn't create'

Emily Donovan is a North Carolina mother turned environmental activist who co-founded Clean Cape Fear, a grassroots group demanding justice for communities exposed to water pollution. Her message is clear: "Make the polluters pay" — not the people who've been harmed by their chemicals — The Revelator reported in August.

In 2017, the public learned that Chemours, a chemical company, had been dumping GenX into the Cape Fear River, the main drinking water source in Donovan's region. GenX is a toxic chemical belonging to the class of synthetic compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

Concerned for her children's health, Donovan joined with neighbors to form Clean Cape Fear and confront the widespread problem of PFAS contamination.

Also known as "forever chemicals" for their persistence in environments and human bodies, PFAS have been linked to certain cancers, reproductive issues, and developmental concerns. Likely due to their staying power and their ubiquity in numerous consumer goods, the chemicals have been found in 98 percent of U.S. water recently tested by Waterkeeper Alliance — and even in human blood.

In the Cape Fear community, though, it turns out that household use of non-stick cookware, stain-resistant furniture, and waterproof clothing has not been solely to blame for the local spread. Because Chemours was found to have polluted area waterways, Donovan wants them to pay. She and her team aim to eliminate PFAS at the source and push for polluters — not taxpayers — to fund the high-priced cleanups.

But the mission isn't just about Cape Fear. Enforcing corporate-level and industry-wide accountability for the removal of PFAS from water systems could be the fastest, most efficient, and financially sound route to safer drinking water and healthier communities. The stakes are high, and so is the cost, especially when the government fails to act.

In 2024, Donovan helped influence the United States Environmental Protection Agency to adopt the first-ever national limits on PFAS in drinking water. But those protections were rolled back some months later under a new administration.

Now, local families are left with rising water bills and no clear support as municipalities are left to fund the cleanup.

"The water bills keep going up for a problem that we didn't create," Donovan told The Revelator. "This is expensive, and it should not be the burden of the utilities. It should be the burden of the polluters and should be stopped at the source."

Despite setbacks, Donovan's work has improved water quality in dozens of schools and received recognition from the United Nations. Her goal remains the same: Stop PFAS pollution before it reaches the tap.