On a patch of grass in front of the Public Works Commission in Fayetteville, a few dozen community members gathered Saturday morning to protest the widespread and continued contamination of the local environment with “forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS.
With the Fayetteville water tower behind them, the demonstrators outside the local utility company held signs reading “Chemours poisoned our land and water” and “Killmours” and “Save our water.” Many gave speeches into a megaphone, raising their voices over the roaring of passing cars and frequent gusts of wind.
The protest was organized in response to recent PFAS-related news by Fayetteville Freedom for All, a local grassroots community organizing group. In March, PWC announced that $80 million of federal funding earmarked for a PFAS water filtration system and other infrastructure projects was being withheld by the Trump administration. According to PWC, if the funding is not reinstated, customers will have to foot the bill for the PFAS filtration system, which is expected to cost $111 million to install.
The organizers said they were also protesting Chemours, the company responsible for polluting the Cape Fear River Basin with PFAS, and news of expanded well testing near the local chemical plant. For the first time, households as far as 30 miles from the Chemours plant are eligible to have their private well water tested by the company for PFAS, per a requirement from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Organizers also aimed to raise awareness about recent actions by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission (EMC), responsible for regulating North Carolina’s water resources, such as a new proposal to have factories self-report PFAS levels in their wastewater. The EMC, a 15-member commission appointed by the North Carolina General Assembly, governor and Commissioner of Agriculture, has been embroiled in controversy in recent months over undue industry influence. Advocates have sounded alarm bells over the EMS’s latest proposal, noting that it would allow chemical companies to monitor their own contamination levels and institute reduction plans if PFAS limits are exceeded
Lisette Rodriguez, a leader of Fayetteville Freedom for All, underscored the urgency and frustration surrounding these developments amid what the Environmental Protection Agency has self-described as the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history” under President Donald Trump. Under Trump, the EPA has already withdrawn a rule aimed at PFAS regulation.
“And all this is happening while our federal government is cutting federal funding and jobs at various agencies, universities and research facilities that are supposed to protect us from these companies and help inform the public about the harmful effects of these forever chemicals,” Rodriguez said.
Fayetteville Freedom for All was joined by representatives from various local and statewide advocacy groups, including Cape Fear River Watch, Toxic Free NC, Action NC, Organizing Against Racism Cumberland County, Momma’s Village and Fridays for Future – Fayetteville. Speakers from the groups discussed various aspects of the PFAS contamination crisis and laid out their collective action plans.
Dana Sargent, executive director of the Cape Fear River Watch, the nonprofit organization that sued Chemours resulting in the 2019 Consent Order requiring the company to reign in its PFAS pollution, argued there was enough information about the toxicity of PFAS to justify a total ban on the production of the chemicals. Her brother, a firefighter with occupational exposure to PFAS, died from glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that is associated with PFAS exposure, Sargent said.
“There are thousands of people out there who may be sick or who have lost a loved one due to PFAS exposure without having a clue that it could have been avoided,” Sargent said. “ … We know enough, and we’ve known enough for decades. We need to know more, but we need to stop the spigot now. We need to stop the exposure.”
Sargent urged community members to attend the next meeting of the Environmental Management Commission on May 7 and May 8 in Raleigh, when the EMC is expected to discuss the proposal for PFAS producers to self-report their pollution.
Ashley Daniels, representing environmental health outreach and advocacy organization Toxic Free NC, echoed Sargent’s concerns, stating that corporate “greed” has played a driving factor in the continued PFAS contamination, despite widespread evidence of the toxicity of the chemicals.
“To be clear, every person standing here has a right to be, and has a right to be safe, and has a right to be free from harm,” Daniels said. “Our rights don’t begin when it’s convenient for a shareholder, and our rights don’t end when safe practices are inconvenient to the stock market. We have the right to basic human decency because we are born, and because we are here. The values of our lives don’t change when the commissioners or legislators change their seats or their minds.”
Angela Malloy, founder of Momma’s Village, a nonprofit collective devoted to maternal care, held a sign that read, “The womb is the first environment, protect our water, protect our babies.” Speaking at the rally, Malloy emphasized the importance of advocating for clean water on behalf of future generations.
“Whenever I go up to Raleigh and to D.C., I remind people that clean water, especially for our moms and babies, that’s literally nonpartisan,” Malloy said. “Everyone should want babies that are coming into this world to not be exposed to [toxic] chemicals.”
Rose McHale, who established the Fayetteville chapter of the international climate change action group Fridays for Future, told CityView the fight for PFAS-free water is deeply personal. Her grandmother who lived in Fayetteville suffered from thyroid problems and kidney issues, and ultimately died of thyroid cancer. PFAS exposure is linked to thyroid cancer, increasing risk by as much as 56%, according to a recent study.
PFAS exposure is also associated with increased risk of kidney cancer and declining kidney function. McHale herself has also dealt with chronic health issues, having been hospitalized twice in the past few months for kidney disease, including acute renal failure. McHale has previously lived at several military bases — many of which are known to have longstanding, extreme PFAS contamination — and she said her health issues have gotten worse since moving to Fayetteville a few years ago and drinking the water here. Her family cannot afford expensive filtration systems to remove PFAS, she said. McHale criticized politicians and companies for not doing enough to stymie the ongoing contamination crisis.
“Groups of people are desperate, they’re dying and nothing is being done about it,” McHale said. “That doesn’t sit right to me as an individual, if anybody can just suck that up, that says a lot about their emotional maturity. You should want the same thing as us because your health matters, too.”
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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