Overview:

• North Carolina provided the money to pay for the project.

• It’s expected to be finished this summer.

• The county and the state are suing the chemical companies whose nearby factory has been cited as the cause of the contamination.

An $11 million project to extend public water to two Gray’s Creek schools that have contaminated well water is 60% complete and on track to be finished in the summer, the Fayetteville Public Works Commission was told on Wednesday.

The project, which was announced in April 2024 and started in November 2025, aims to provide drinking water to Gray’s Creek Elementary and Alderman Road Elementary. It’s designed to also allow properties along the line to connect, PWC engineer A.J. Riddle said during a presentation to the PWC board. 

“Tremendous progress,” PWC board secretary Donald L. Porter said following Riddle’s report. The PWC supplies drinking water to Fayetteville, parts of Cumberland County, and Hoke County.

Drinking Fountains Shut Off

This is a drinking water fountain in a school, mounted on a wall of green tile. There is a paper sign taped to the fountain. It says, "Out of service, bottled water is available in classrooms." An icon on the sign also indicates that people should not drink water from this drinking fountain.
A shuttered drinking water fountain on April 12, 2024, in Gray’s Creek Elementary in Cumberland County, where the water was contaminated. Credit: Paul Woolverton / CityView

In fall 2017, the Gray’s Creek and Alderman Road schools switched to bottled water for human consumption because their wells were contaminated with  per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals. The school wells are among many drinking water wells in Gray’s Creek contaminated with PFAS attributed to the Chemours Co. plant about 4 miles away.

Studies have connected PFAS to cancer risks, decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant women, and other health problems, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. 

Cumberland County spent $39,000 in 2025 to install filters at the schools to end the bottled water use and tide the schools over until this waterline is complete. The county and the state of North Carolina are suing Chemours over the contamination.

In Cumberland County’s lawsuit, a judge ruled in September that Chemours and its predecessor, DuPont, caused a public nuisance with PFAS emissions. A jury trial is scheduled for August 24 to determine what Chemours and DuPont owe the county for causing the contamination.

Schools, homes, businesses, churches, and others in the community use wells for their water needs. Chemours has provided bottled water and filter systems to residents with contaminated wells.

A map that shows the route of a water line to be built in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
The route of a new water line to serve Alderman Road Elementary and Gray’s Creek Elementary. Credit: Paul Woolverton / Made with Google Maps and Shutterstock

Water Main Details

Here are more details that Riddle provided to the PWC board on Wednesday:

  • 17,500 feet of pipe are being installed—that’s more than 3.3 miles. Some is 16 inches in diameter, and some is 12 inches.
  • The line runs south along N.C. 87 from Gray’s Creek Shopping Center to Alderman Road. There, it turns west and runs past Alderman Road Elementary and ends at Gray’s Creek Elementary.
  • The line will have four places where additional lines can connect to further expand water service in the area.
  • The state allocated $11.82 million for the project, though this construction totals just over $11 million. The approximately $800,000 difference will support future expansion of water service from this line.

Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.

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Paul Woolverton is CityView's senior reporter, covering courts, local politics, and Cumberland County affairs. He joined CityView from The Fayetteville Observer, where he worked for more than 30 years.