West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc. v. The Chemours Company FC, LLC

── West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc. v. The Chemours Company FC, LLC ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Date: June 03, 2026 Category: General USCA4 Appeal: 25-1924 Doc: 56 Filed: 06/03/2026 Pg: 1 of 26 PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 25-1924 WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION, INC., Plaintiff - Appellee, and LITTLE HOCKING WATER ASSOCIATION, INC., Intervenor/Plaintiff - Appellee, v. THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC, Defendant - Appellant. ------------------------------ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL, Amici Supporting Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston. Joseph R. Goodwin, District Judge. (2:24-cv-00701) Argued: March 19, 2026 Decided: June 3, 2026 Before NIEMEYER, QUATTLEBAUM, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges. USCA4 Appeal: 25-1924 Doc: 56 Filed: 06/03/2026 Pg: 2 of 26 Vacated by published opinion. Judge Quattlebaum wrote the opinion, in which Judge Niemeyer and Judge Rushing joined. ARGUED: Allon Kedem, ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Derek Owen Teaney, APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN ADVOCATES, INC., Lewisburg, West Virginia, for Appellee. Justin Derek Newman, ALTMANNEWMAN CO. LPA, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Intervenor. ON BRIEF: Joseph A. Ford, Clifford F. Kinney, Jr., Niall A. Paul, James A. Walls, SPILMAN, THOMAS & BATTLE, PLLC, Morgantown, West Virginia; Allison B. Rumsey, Elisabeth S. Theodore, Dirk C. Phillips, ARNOLD & PORTER KAY SCHOLER LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Amanda Demmerle, APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN ADVOCATES, INC., Lewisburg, West Virginia; James M. Hecker, Daniel Snyder, PUBLIC JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. D. David Altman, ALTMANNEWMAN CO. LPA, Cincinnati, Ohio; Kirk R. Auvil, THE EMPLOYMENT LAW CENTER, PLLC, Parkersburg, West Virginia, for Intervenor. Andrew R. Varcoe, Audrey Dos Santos, UNITED STATES CHAMBER LITIGATION CENTER, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. Elliott Zenick, AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL, Washington, D.C., for Amicus American Chemistry Council. Sean Marotta, HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 25-1924 Doc: 56 Filed: 06/03/2026 Pg: 3 of 26 QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judge: The district court preliminarily enjoined The Chemours Company from releasing more hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) from its Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, than its Clean Water Act permit allows. Chemours challenges the preliminary injunction on two grounds. First, Chemours contends that the plaintiff that sought the preliminary injunction—West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc. (Rivers Coalition)—lacks Article III standing. Second, Chemours claims that the district court erred in finding irreparable harm, which, of course, is required to obtain a preliminary injunction. As to standing, we disagree. At least at this stage of this proceeding, Rivers Coalition has satisfied the Article III case-or-controversy requirement. But we agree that the district court’s irreparable harm analysis rested on legal and factual errors. So, we vacate the preliminary injunction. I.