Asphalt Opposition
Dozens of residents of Clemmons, a small village south of Winston-Salem, were alarmed about a proposed asphalt plant that could be built in their neighborhood, Rolling Green Village. A man, who said his name was Chris Sanderson, told neighbors he too, felt concerned about the potential environmental harms. Weeks later, residents learned the truth. He was operating under an alias. Public records, photographs, social media accounts and technological fingerprints on his documents showed he was Chris Hopkins, a man who has worked over the past 20 years for consulting firms whose strategies for industrial clients included subterfuge. Hopkins began spearheading community opposition to the asphalt plant in June. The facility, proposed by Maymead, a company based in Mountain City, Tennessee, would lie within two miles of eight elementary schools, several parks and hundreds of residences, including a mobile home community. Posing as Sanderson, Hopkins formed an anti-asphalt plant Facebook group and an online neighborhood discussion list. He visited neighbors in their homes and emailed and spoke with local government officials. He ordered and paid $700 for flyers, stickers and signs, the latter which he pounded into the ground throughout the neighborhood and along Kinnamon Road. This strategy is not uncommon among some land-use firms. Hopkins worked for at least one company that at times tried to quash projects, not for environmental reasons but to eliminate the competition. When Hopkins was operating in Clemmons, he was employed by the consulting firm Land Use Strategies. With three offices across the U.S., it represents mining interests, data centers, landfills and other controversial industries. Last week, Inside Climate News sent Land Use Strategies documents showing evidence of Hopkins’ other identity and requested an explanation. Two days later, the company replied that Hopkins was no longer with the firm and that it “was not involved with” and had “no knowledge of” the Clemmons project. Hopkins did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comment.
VinFast is fighting NC's effort to remove it from Chatham megasite
Electric-vehicle maker VinFast is fighting the North Carolina government’s efforts to claw back a Chatham County megasite, arguing in a new legal brief that the state’s actions are compounding delays on a multibillion-dollar factory while denying allegations that it violated its end of the bargain in one of the biggest economic development bets in state history.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued the Vietnamese automaker in May on behalf of the state Department of Commerce, alleging that the company missed a key contractual development deadline, triggering a buyback clause in the original sale agreement. State officials say they want to move on from the VinFast project to free up the land with the hopes of recruiting another company.
But VinFast, in its newly filed lawsuit response, says the state’s lawsuit is premature and that it’s still making good on its deal with economic developers. It wants a judge to affirm that position, throw out the state’s lawsuit and award compensation for damages it says were caused by the state. VinFast alleges that the state’s actions have hurt the company’s ability to obtain and maintain financing for the project, resulting in more delays and increased costs — barriers to meeting elements of its deal with the state.
“The state cannot rely on the absence of completed financing, additional construction spending, or related milestones to avoid its obligations … to the extent the state's own failure to cooperate prevented or materially hindered VinFast from satisfying those conditions,” the company wrote in its 80-page response, which was filed in state court this month.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Justice, which is suing on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, declined to comment because the litigation is ongoing.
VinFast in March 2022 announced plans to invest more than $2 billion and create 7,500 jobs at the Chatham County site. At the time, it expected to begin construction that year and begin production by the middle of 2024.
VinFast’s plans were initially projected to grow the state’s economy by up to $71.59 billion over 32 years. The state agreed to a job-creation grant that would provide up to $316.1 million to the company in tax reimbursements over that span, provided it meets hiring and investment targets. So far, none of that proposed grant money has been paid out to the company.
Eight months after the announcement of VinFast’s plans, company executives agreed to the land-buyback deal. It gives the state the option to buy the property it originally sold to VinFast if the company failed to begin vertical construction by Jan. 1, 2024, or commence operations by July 1, 2026.
The state’s lawsuit, filed before the July deadline, focuses on vertical construction. The company and the state disagree over whether that has happened. The answer could factor into a judge’s decision over how to rule.
Vinfast says it completed the vertical construction obligation on time by pouring concrete into building footers — foundation work that’s typically measured in inches, not in stories — and that it has also built some retaining walls on site.
But the company is far from completing a project that would enable production at the site, which sits in a prime location: Off U.S. 1 in Moncure, just south of the Wake-Chatham county line. The state argues that vertical construction hasn’t begun. Separately, Chatham County officials voted in June to cancel their own incentives deal with the company, saying VinFast failed to meet project deadlines.
VinFast says it’s still trying to get up and running — and that other key deadlines tied to its deal with the state still haven’t passed. Therefore, it argues, the state’s lawsuit is premature.
The company has until Dec. 31, 2026 to create at least 1,750 jobs and make a “material investment” of at least $500 million in the site. VinFast says it has already invested about $229 million in the site, noting that meeting the investment target is feasible.
“The state's claim rests not on any positive, unequivocal statement by VinFast that it will not perform, but on [the state’s] own prediction that a delayed operational timeline will necessarily result in a future failure to meet the job-creation benchmark or an inability to meet the ‘material investment’ alternative,” the company said in its court filing.
Vinfast’s legal brief denies many other allegations lodged against it in relation to its efforts to get permits and otherwise clear bureaucratic hurdles necessary to build and start operating a factory. The company acknowledges that it doesn’t have plans to begin construction until 2028. But it says it still intends to build and that it has communicated that to the state.
“VinFast has never communicated to the state, in writing or otherwise, that it does not intend to build a manufacturing facility on the site,” the company said in its brief. “In fact, VinFast has steadfastly communicated its position to the state that it wishes to perform under its obligations.”
The VinFast project was a key piece of former Gov. Roy Cooper’s economic development strategy. Cooper sought to recruit clean-tech companies that offered a dual benefit of helping the economy and the environment. Some projects, such as Toyota’s massive electric vehicle battery factory south of Greensboro, have been successful. Others have pulled out.
Softness in the EV market in the U.S. has complicated VinFast’s efforts. The company had warned investors of regulatory risks years ago, saying in a regulatory filing: “If current tax incentives are not available in the future, demand for EVs may stagnate or decline, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.”
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, approved under Democratic President Joe Biden, offered buyers of EVs a $7,500 tax credit, provided a certain percentage of the vehicle was manufactured or assembled in the U.S. VinFast was hoping its North Carolina plant would have helped U.S. customers qualify for the credit. Republican President Donald Trump last year ended the $7,500 tax credit after vowing to do so in 2024. VinFast cited market factors as a reason to adjust its timeline in Chatham County.
“The decision is necessary given the well-publicized slowdown in the EV marketplace,” the company wrote in a 2024 letter to state economic development officials announcing its plans to delay construction until 2028 — a letter it quoted in the new court reply as well.
Immigrant CDLs
The federal government is no longer threatening to withhold highway money from North Carolina over its handling of commercial driver’s licenses issued to people who are not citizens of the United States.
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles revamped how it issues so-called non-domiciled CDLs to ensure it meets federal requirements. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told the DMV this summer that it could resume issuing non-domiciled CDLs to migrants who are in the country legally, though changes in federal rules could make those licenses rare in the future, state officials say.
In January, the Trump administration threatened to withhold $49 million in highway funding from North Carolina because it said the state wasn’t following federal policies toward non-citizen truck drivers. The FMCSA said it found that of the 50 North Carolina non-domiciled CDLs it examined 27 had been granted illegally.
The most common violation by the state was to issue a commercial license that would not expire until after the driver was legally allowed to remain in the country.
The DMV responded by reviewing all 3,184 of its non-domiciled CDLs to determine which ones met federal requirements. The DMV says 1,147 or 36% of them were found to violate federal policy and were either canceled or downgraded to a Class C license, which can’t be used to drive a truck or other commercial vehicle. Another 906 non-domiciled CDLs had either expired or the driver had moved to another state. The DMV found that 1,131, or nearly 36%, complied with federal rules.
“Our job is to follow the federal regulations, and ensure we do so in a proper and accountable way, and we’ve shown that now through this process,” DMV commissioner Paul Tine said in an interview. “This was a problem, and once it was identified, we fixed it.”
Tine said the agency found that only a small fraction of current license holders would be eligible under the new rules. “Of all the people who got licenses from us in the last two years, we wanted to know how many would have gotten them under the new rules,” Tine said. “And it was 22.”
I-77 Toll Lanes
Davidson commissioners discussed Tuesday whether to change their vote and back the controversial Interstate 77 toll lanes again. The town could be penalized $1.5 million if it doesn’t. Commissioners don’t like the I-77 toll lanes that already run through their town. In a show of support to Charlotte, they voted in May against building 11 more miles of toll lanes from uptown to the South Carolina line. But Republican lawmakers want the controversial $4 billion project to move forward. They've passed legislation that would require local governments that vote against the toll lanes to pay a portion of the $69 million in design costs already spent. Commissioner Ryan Fay said Davidson is being bullied. “To me, that is government coercion,” he said. “It is political coercion, and it is financial coercion.” Fay and others — including Mayor Rusty Knox — said they don’t want to support the project but have to consider the impact of the fine on a town with only 16,000 people. Commissioners will take a formal vote on September 22. That will direct their representative on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization how to vote a day later.
North Carolina has reached a settlement worth nearly $600 million with chemical companies Chemours and DuPont on PFAS contamination, state officials said, calling it the largest environmental damages recovery in state history.
The agreement directs $75 million to the state and $380 million to 11 local governments that joined the deal, bringing new money to communities affected by contamination tied to Chemours’ Fayetteville Works Facility. An additional $135 million establishes a reserve fund between DuPont and sister company Corteva.
The historic settlement with chemical giants Chemours and DuPont comes after years of litigation over PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” contamination in state waterways.
Chemours has already spent $1.2 billion to comply with a 2019 consent order to stop discharging contaminants from its Fayetteville Works facility into the Cape Fear River, which affected the water of roughly 500,000 local residents.
After Thursday’s agreement, North Carolina has recovered nearly $2 billion in total damages from PFAS manufacturers.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the first comprehensive multi-state federal settlement against Chemours in June. Under the settlement, Chemours had to pay a civil penalty of $22.5 million and promised only $90 million in environmental projects across North Carolina, New Jersey and West Virginia.
In a video statement, Attorney General Jeff Jackson said that settlement was a “slap on the wrist.”
“We were hoping the EPA would take this seriously but they failed,” he said. “That was completely unacceptable. We knew that we had to take the lead. Now we have a settlement worth nearly $600 million dollars, which is at least 20 times what the EPA [civil penalty] got for us, and it’s paid for by the companies that did the polluting.”
According to a press release, neither the EPA nor Chemours consulted the Department of Environmental Quality or Jackson’s office about the June agreement.
The local governments that will split the $380 million include Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, New Hanover, Robeson and Sampson counties, along with the Town of Wrightsville Beach, City of Lumberton, Village of Bald Head Island and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.
A majority of the state funding will go toward the Emerging Contaminant Mitigation Fund in the Division of Water Infrastructure under the Department of Environmental Quality. The fund was created via the 2026 state budget.
“The lawsuit was about accountability. The settlement provides resources,” Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Kirk deViere said. “The work ahead is about solutions. We will continue to use every resource to protect our communities, pursue additional state and federal support and build toward a permanent solution for clean, safe, regulated drinking water.”
Under the 2019 consent order, Chemours is required to provide clean drinking water to families whose well water is affected. Jackson said Thursday's announcement makes the previous order even stronger and permanent.
According to a NCDOJ press release, Chemours has already stopped discharging highly contaminated wastewater, installed pollution technology to control 99.9% of PFAS air emissions and sampled 27,500 wells in southeastern North Carolina for the presence of PFAS.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority still has an ongoing case against Chemours and DuPont seeking additional contamination cleanup funds. The case is not affected by the settlement, according to Jackson.
“We know that Chemours will only do the right thing when it's forced to, so we’re grateful to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality for showing North Carolinians that they will hold Chemours' feet to the fire to make sure we have clean drinking water,” Dan Crawford, senior director of public affairs for the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, said in a press release.