Overview:
• County commissioners say Chemours was told by North Carolina environmental regulators in 2020 to produce a new corrective action plan, but none has been turned in.
• Residents say bacteria is growing in PFAS filters provided by Chemours since the company isn’t properly maintaining the systems.
• Chemours says residents with problem filters should contact the company.
• Chemours is supposed to cover costs for connecting homes to public water. It says it will do this.
Cumberland County commissioners voted Monday to ask state regulators to make Chemours address the PFAS contamination it left in residents’ drinking water wells in Gray’s Creek and ensure that it will help the residents pay for public water service.
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) should “take decisive enforcement action” against the chemical company, commissioners Chair Kirk deViere said in a letter to D. Reid Wilson, the governor’s secretary of environmental quality.
The decision to ask for enforcement action came about 95 minutes before another, related vote: Commissioners unanimously decided to hire Jymco Construction Co. for $5.9 million to build a 5-mile water distribution line to the Gray’s Creek community, where the PFAS contamination has been concentrated.
“The project represents the first phase of extending water service to properties currently dependent on private wells contaminated by Fayetteville Works PFAS,” a memo to the commissioners says. “Fayetteville Works” is a reference to the Chemours plant.
Also at Monday’s meeting, Gray’s Creek resident Mike Watters told the commissioners that Chemours is not sufficiently maintaining PFAS filter systems it gave to residents who have contaminated wells. Chemours’ lack of maintenance, Watters said, caused bacterial growth that fouls up the equipment.
This led to low water flow in his plumbing, he said, and slime growth in his clothes washer, which stopped working. “They’re not following the drinking water compliance plan,” Watters said. Watters has been a leading advocate for Gray’s Creek residents with contaminated drinking water wells.
The letter and resolution commissioners voted to send to the Department of Environmental Quality cite the bacterial growth that Watters mentioned.
Meanwhile, the Fayetteville Public Works Commission is extending water service to two elementary schools in Gray’s Creek that have wells contaminated with PFAS. That $11 million project is expected to be completed this summer.
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS has been linked to infertility, cancer, weakened immunity, cholesterol, and obesity, and other health issues, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It was made public in summer 2017 that the Chemours factory, known as its Fayetteville Works plant, had been discharging a version of PFAS called GenX into the air and the Cape Fear River since 1980.
The plant is off N.C. 87 in Bladen County just outside the Cumberland County line, and about 17 miles south of downtown Fayetteville. The county and state are spending millions of dollars to extend public water to public schools and residents there, and the county and state are suing Chemours.
Commissioners voted 6-0 on Monday—Commissioner Jeannette Council was absent—to send a letter and resolution to DEQ. These documents say Chemours has failed for six years to comply with a court order to help the public get clean drinking water.
“The people of Cumberland County deserve clarity, accountability, and action,” deViere wrote. “Many are elderly, on fixed incomes, and dependent on water systems that remain inadequately protected. The county is committed to working collaboratively with NC DEQ to address these concerns, and we ask that DEQ use its full enforcement authority to ensure that happens.”
DEQ’s press office received a query from CityView on Thursday about the resolution ahead of Monday’s vote; as of Tuesday, the agency had not provided comment.
‘Over Six Years Ago’
In December 2019, Chemours submitted a corrective action plan to address the contamination. The environmental quality agency in January 2020 said the plan was insufficient, and that Chemours needed to submit a better one, the county’s resolution says.
“That was over six years ago. To date, no revised Corrective Action Plan addressing offsite soil and groundwater contamination has been submitted to NC DEQ,” deViere said in his letter. This violates a court order and state regulations, he said.
Chemours and the agency also need to ensure that the company will cover the cost that residents incur to get public water, deViere wrote. The company agreed to pay connection fees of up to $75,000 per home, he said, and for 20 years pay up to $75 per month of the customers’ water bills.
It’s not clear, deViere said, whether people who accepted PFAS filter systems from Chemours would also get the connection to public water, and the 20 years of water bill payments.
Commissioners made three requests in their resolution:
- They want “NC DEQ to issue a formal notice of violation to Chemours for its failure to submit a revised Corrective Action Plan addressing offsite soil and groundwater contamination, and to compel submission of a compliant plan within 90 days.” Further, they want DEQ to confirm that Chemours’ remediation efforts have been insufficient under state regulations.
- They ask DEQ to audit the maintenance logs for the PFAS filter systems that Chemours installed at people’s homes, and make Chemours take corrective action if it has fallen short.
- They want a formal written determination that residents who received PFAS filter systems will also qualify for the $75,000 for connecting their homes, plus the $75 month toward their water bills for 20 years.
Chemours Says It Will Pay
Chemours spokesperson Jess Loizeaux told CityView that the company is limited in what it can say about the matter due to the pending lawsuits against it.
“We have consistently installed and maintained Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) systems in accordance with the standards and protocols agreed upon with NCDEQ,” Loizeaux said in an email. The granular activated carbon system is the PFAS filtering equipment.
“Any residents in Cumberland County that have questions or concerns regarding GAC service or maintenance can call the Chemours Help Line at 910-678-1101,” she said.
Further, “Residents that opted for a public water connection but received a GAC system due to a public water connection being unavailable at the time, still retain their right to a Chemours-funded public water connection should that option become available in the future,” she said.
“There is no ambiguity here as claimed,” Loizeaux said. “We have, and continue to, connect these residences to public water as the option to do so becomes available and cover their monthly water bills up to $75 pursuant to the Consent Order.”
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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