The proposed pollution settlement between the state Department of Environmental Quality and Chemours appeared to be a good deal. It may still be. But this week some caution lights began flashing, suggesting there may be more issues to clear up before anyone can feel safe again.

The alarm was sounded by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, which has questioned how the settlement would apply to the utility and its customers. The consent order says Chemours will install filtration systems in homes around the Fayetteville Works whose drinking water -- from wells -- is found to contain a combined 70 parts per trillion of chemicals from a group that includes GenX. It includes wells that are found to have at least 10 parts per trillion of any single compound in the list of PFAS. Since there are PFAS levels in the Cape Fear River exceeding that threshold, the utility wants to know why it’s not included in the settlement.

“If levels of these contaminants are at the same level that people in groundwater areas are seeing, shouldn’t surface water systems receive the same consideration?” CFPUA Executive Director Jim Flechtner asked.

A September report, performed on behalf of Chemours, shows that pollution from the plant continues to flow into the Cape Fear. In a letter to DEQ Secretary Michael Regan, Flechtner wrote, “The report suggests significant levels of contaminants continue to migrate from the Chemours site and that they persist in the river to the CFPUA water intake, despite Chemours’ claim that industrial waste is hauled offsite.”

If that’s the case, it’s reasonable to expect any settlement to include downstream water customers, as well as the Fayetteville Works’ nearby neighbors.

The StarNews of Wilmington this week reported on the CFPUA’s concerns and also revealed that in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chemours said it is under federal investigation for potentially violating the Clean Water Act.

Those are significant concerns. At the least, any settlement with the state should include some provision for the health and safety of downstream water consumers. Between them, the CFPUA and Brunswick County’s water utility are spending $150 million on additional filtration systems to protect their customers from the PFAS contaminants that largely originate from Chemours’ operations. That should have consequences for the companies (including Dupont) that appear to have been using the river as a waste-disposal system for as long as four decades.

That’s why the consent agreement between the DEQ and Chemours should get considerable further review. It’s also prudent to wait and see what evidence the federal investigations have turned up about the pollution. It appears there are still significant issues to be addressed. That needs to happen before the deal becomes final.