The addition of eight filters to remove man-made chemical compounds in the water at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant is part of the 10-year capital improvement plan approved by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Board on Wednesday.
CFPUA is welcoming Senate Bill 518, a newly introduced piece of legislation that would set new standards for Gen X and other similar compounds in the state’s water supply.
On March 27, CFPUA sampled finished water at three wells — two serving the plant and an emergency well that doesn't provide drinking water — in an effort to monitor potential movement of PFAS compounds that have been detected in and near an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) well.
The CFPUA board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday that authorizes Executive Director Jim Flechtner to complete design and permitting for the project as well as obtain bond funding and construction bids.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority wanted the money to pay for new granular activated carbon (GAC) filters meant to filter GenX and other PFAS compounds out of drinking water.
New Hanover County is filtering out per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) at its landfill, according to sampling results from the NC Department of Environmental Quality.
The permit incorporates the requirements of a consent order signed Feb. 25 to install the oxidizer by Dec. 31 and reduce all PFAS emissions by 99 percent beyond the 2017 baseline.
Results released this week show 1,4-dioxane of 1.8 parts per billion (ppb) in raw water on Feb. 13 and 0.54 ppb in the finished water treated at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant on Feb. 14.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority is reconsidering its motion against Chemours after the chemical company filed a revised legal agreement with the state Department of Environmental Quality on Wednesday.
The updated agreement will now require Chemours to report monthly GenX air emissions, analyze PFAS buildup in river sediment, and provide filtration systems in certain public buildings for drinking water fountains and maintain them for 20 years.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality will hold a public meeting and hearing Monday on a draft air permit for Chemours to install and operate a thermal oxidizer/scrubber system for emission control at their Fayetteville Works Facility.
Research and investigations into how GenX and substances are getting into the Cape Fear River are ongoing, but while the focus has been on major industry, experts and officials are concerned the compounds could be entering the water system in other ways.
CFPUA said in a news release it believes a consent order proposed by the state Department of Environmental Quality is not adequate to protect CFPUA’s interests or remedy harm caused by Chemours' PFAS releases into the Cape Fear River.
Brunswick County plans to increase water capacity by 12 million gallons per day and low-pressure reverse osmosis treatment to address new and emerging compounds is also expected to be added
New Hanover County Commissioner Woody White is asking his fellow board members to join ranks and oppose the proposed consent order between the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Chemours and Cape Fear River Watch over the company’s discharge of GenX and other chemicals into the drin
While acknowledging it welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency releasing a study on GenX, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority said other PFAS compounds need to be considered to protect drinking water for customers in southeastern North Carolina.
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Michael Regan said on Wednesday the state’s proposed consent order against Chemours is a “very strong first step” towards cleaning up and protecting the drinking water supply.
Dozens of concerned community members gathered at Cape Fear Community College on Tuesday to hear the latest on the state of their drinking water, and the GenX investigation.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority is still drafting a legal response to a proposed consent order concerning contaminated drinking water in our area, but plans to ask the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to require more protections for New Hanover County drinking water.
The order requires Chemours to reduce GenX air emissions, provide permanent replacement drinking water supplies and pay a $12 million civil penalty to DEQ and an additional $1 million for investigative costs.
One day after the Environmental Protection Agency released its first-ever toxicity assessment of chemicals in our drinking water, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority said it is implementing a temporary solution to reduce PFAS levels at its Sweeney Water Treatment Facility.
In a CFPUA news release, the utility said the three new compounds were found in water samples collected from Nov. 11, 2017, through Spring 2018 at locations along the Cape Fear River and in parts of CFPUA’s water distribution system.
On Tuesday night, researchers with the “GenX Exposure Study” revealed their findings that blood samples of 345 New Hanover County residents tested positive for several PFAS, but not GenX.
Researchers with N.C. State University will present initial blood test results from GenX exposure in New Hanover County in a public meeting Tuesday, Nov. 13.
From 2003-14, the DHHS analyzed four categories of birth defects in Bladen, Brunswick, Cumberland, New Hanover and Pender counties using data from the NC Birth Defects Monitoring Program.
In an effort to reduce levels of PFAS in drinking water, staff from Calgon Carbon are at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant this week replacing carbon filters.
North Carolina health officials said GenX was not found in the blood and urine samples taken from 30 people living near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works facility.
Each forum will include a presentation on CFPUA's effort to reduce PFAS in drinking water. The public is encouraged to attend the meetings and ask questions of CFPUA staff.
A New Hanover County representative who is also the senior chairman of the House Committee on River Quality has sent a letter to Governor Roy Cooper expressing concern about the Chemours Company and GenX.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public information session on the state's GenX investigation on Thursday, Aug. 30. The event will be held at the Bladen County Cooperative Extension Center at 450 Smith Circle in Elizabethtown.
The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a community engagement event in Fayetteville on Tuesday, August 14, to discuss GenX and other chemical compounds found in local water.
Chemours declined a public meeting and instead offered local leaders a tour of its Fayetteville Works plant, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and New Hanover Co. Board Chairman Woody White said Monday.
GenX levels in finished water samples at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant increased to 33.3 parts per trillion on July 2, according to a Cape Fear Public Utility Authority news release.
Citing the company's importance to the local economy, Bladen County leaders have again voiced support for Chemours in emails sent to the NC Department of Environmental Quality.
State officials say Chemours was premature with its offer to install and maintain granular activated carbon filtration systems at homes around the company's Fayetteville Works Plant in Bladen County that have tainted well systems. Michael Scott, the Director of the Division of Waste Management with the NCDEQ who wrote to residents regarding the company's offer, said Chemours acted before the state's study on the system is completed.
Federal, state, and county officials will test the blood and urine of up to 30 residents living near Chemours' Fayetteville Works facility for the presence of GenX and 16 other per- and polyfuloroalkyl substances.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit in New Hanover County Superior Court calling on the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to use its authority to require the Chemours Company to immediately stop all discharge of GenX and other chemically related compounds from its Fayetteville Works facility.
Residents in Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson counties have a new contact for bottled water issues related to GenX, an unregulated compound discharged into the Cape Fear River by the Chemours Company at its Fayetteville Works site.
A bill that provides funding for water quality-related efforts includes $450,000 for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. In a news release, CFPUA said the money will be used for water sampling and testing of treatment technology to address PFAS and other contaminants in drinking water.
GenX was found in fish in a lake less than a mile from the Chemours plant in Bladen County, according to a new study conducted by the Department of Environmental Quality.
Shortly after a new toxicological report on perfluorinated compounds was released last week by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority contacted two state agencies for additional information. One responded. The other hasn't.
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has spent nearly two million dollars in response to the revelation that the chemical GenX is present in the water system that serves thousands in our area. We're getting a better breakdown of how that money has been allocated.
According to an NCDEQ news release, the order requires Chemours to implement numerous measures to eliminate or reduce air emissions and water impacts caused by GenX and related compounds.
Dozens of community members gathered to ask a team of experts questions about the potential effects of GenX and what is being done to learn more about the chemical.
A federal judge has ruled that Cape Fear Public Utility Authority be allowed to test for chemical compounds at The Chemours Company's Fayetteville Works site.
Officials with the chemical firm that for decades released unregulated contaminants into the air and water near its Bladen County plant say they are committed to being good neighbors and responding to the concerns of nearby residents.
The Chemours Company will hold a community information session in St. Pauls on June 12 "to share its comprehensive plan to address emissions control in the short and long-term at the Fayetteville Works facility."
Chemours has installed carbon adsorption units at its Fayetteville Works in an effort to reduce the emission of GenX in the air, the company announced Tuesday.
A political action committee tied to GenX manufacturer Chemours gave a maximum contribution to House Speaker Tim Moore last month, one day after a company lobbyist made a small donation to the PAC.
In its response to a 60-day notice from the NC Division of Air Quality, the Chemours Company says it plans to spend $100 million to upgrade its Fayetteville Works facility.
Nearly 100,000 pounds per year of airborne GenX and PFAS are released into the atmosphere from the Chemours' Fayetteville Works facility, according to analysis by DEQ cited in the legal paperwork.
The EPA found no detectable levels of Gen X in treated drinking water from contaminated wells in Ohio and West Virginia, according to a report this week.
A team of researchers from NC State University will unveil initial tap water testing results from the GenX exposure study at a public meeting in New Hanover County Tuesday night.
In samples taken on March 22, GenX levels in the Northwest Water Treatment Plant were 7.15 parts per trillion in raw water and 5.93 parts per trillion in finished or treated water.
As part of the state's investigation into GenX contamination at the Bladen County facility and surrounding areas, DEQ scientists have discovered evidence that air emissions from the Chemours plant are causing widespread groundwater contamination.
