State environmental regulators have given Chemours three weeks to put a plan in place to limit releases of GenX into the air from its plant in Bladen County or face stricter limits on the plant's air quality permit.

"Chemours must show to DEQ’s satisfaction that they can operate without further contamination of groundwater, or we will prohibit all GenX air emissions," Secretary of Environmental Quality Michael Regan said in a statement.

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Authorities began investigating GenX in the air last fall, noting the unregulated compound used to make Teflon and other items was making it into the groundwater at various points around the Chemours plant that couldn't be attributed to discharges into the Cape Fear River.

The state Division of Air Quality tested air emissions from the plant and rainwater collected nearby and found GenX levels between 45 and 810 parts per trillion at 13 locations within 7 miles of the facility. The state has set a health goal of 140 parts per trillion of GenX for drinking water, but officials said the concentrations in rainwater shouldn't be tied to that standard because people aren't consuming rainwater.

Chemours also tested emissions coming from its stacks and calculated any emissions coming from other equipment at the plant, officials said. Based on that data, DAQ estimated Chemours’ annual GenX emissions at more than 2,700 pounds, or about 33 times higher than the company reported in June 2017 and nearly four times higher than a revised estimate submitted to DAQ in October.

The Department of Environmental Quality sent Chemours a letter Friday to start the clock on a 60-day notice period of the agency's intent to adjust the company's air quality permit, saying that "the conditions under which the current version of the permit was issued on December 14, 2016, have changed."

By April 27, Chemours must show "to DAQ's satisfaction" that the plant's GenX emissions don't violate groundwater standards under existing operations or under "alternate conditions" the company proposes, officials said.

If the company can't, officials said, Chemours will no longer be permitted to release any GenX into the air.