GenX

Reminder:  DEQ to hold Community Meeting in Pender County on Private Well Sampling 

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, February 28, at Heide Trask Senior High School Auditorium in Rocky Point.

DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies.

When:        Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m.

Where:      Heide Trask Senior High School
14328 NC Hwy 210, Rocky Point, NC 28457

Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival at the meeting.

At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is sampling for PFAS contamination in eligible private drinking water wells downstream of the Fayetteville Works Facility. Chemours is required to provide alternate water supplies to residents whose wells exceed specific action levels.

To have your well sampled, call Chemours at (910) 678-1100. Messages to the Chemours call-line are monitored during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Chemours should respond within 24-to-48 hours starting on the next business day. If you don’t currently qualify for well testing, you may qualify in the future. Chemours is required to keep your contact information and notify you if testing expands to your area.

Additional well sampling information for residents, including criteria for eligible wells and other resources, are available on the DEQ website.

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February 22, 2023

DEQ to hold Community Meeting in Pender County on Private Well Sampling

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, February 28, at Heide Trask Senior High School Auditorium in Rocky Point.

DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies.

When:        Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m.

Where:      Heide Trask Senior High School
14328 NC Hwy 210, Rocky Point, NC 28457

Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival at the meeting.

At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is sampling for PFAS contamination in eligible private drinking water wells downstream of the Fayetteville Works Facility. Chemours is required to provide alternate water supplies to residents whose wells exceed specific action levels.

To have your well sampled, call Chemours at (910) 678-1100. Messages to the Chemours call-line are monitored during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Chemours should respond within 24-to-48 hours starting on the next business day. If you don’t currently qualify for well testing, you may qualify in the future. Chemours is required to keep your contact information and notify you if testing expands to your area.

Additional well sampling information for residents, including criteria for eligible wells and other resources, are available on the DEQ website.
January 25, 2023

 Settlement ends Chemours challenge of permit to reduce PFAS entering the Cape Fear River

RALEIGH- An agreement signed today ends litigation without changing the discharge permit issued to Chemours for the treatment of contaminated groundwater to significantly reduce PFAS entering the Cape Fear River.  

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) reached an agreement with Chemours to end the litigation over the permit issued by DEQ on September 15, 2022. Last month, Chemours filed a petition to challenge the permit. CFPUA intervened to support the permit.

Today’s agreement does not change the final permit conditions and includes measures by which Chemours will proceed toward compliance with the final PFAS permit limits. Those limits take effect six months after discharge from the treatment system begins. In the agreement, Chemours agrees to take specific steps and provide monthly reports on its progress during the six-month optimization period.  Chemours also agrees to dismiss its petition for a contested case hearing on the permit.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the treatment system is part of the larger barrier wall remediation project to substantially reduce PFAS entering the Cape Fear River and impacting downstream communities.  Currently, contaminated groundwater from the facility site flows untreated directly into the Cape Fear River. This project is designed to reduce the largest ongoing source of PFAS at the Chemours facility that contaminates the river and reaches downstream water intakes. The project must be operational by March 15, 2023, under the terms of the Consent Order.  DEQ expects Chemours to take necessary actions to comply with the permit conditions and the Consent Order and meet its obligations to clean up the PFAS contamination impacting thousands of residents in at least eight counties and provide them with alternate water.  DEQ will continue to hold Chemours accountable for the cleanup and for preventing future impacts to North Carolinians.

The agreement is available online here.

November 15, 2022

DEQ Statement on Chemours Appeal of the NPDES Permit

The NPDES permit for the treatment system is part of the larger barrier wall remediation project to substantially reduce PFAS entering the Cape Fear River and impacting downstream communities.   Chemours is required to fulfill its obligations under the Consent Order and reduce the amount of contaminated groundwater reaching the Cape Fear River from the Chemours Fayetteville Works facility.

The Consent Order Addendum specifies a minimum reduction of 99% for the treatment system. DEQ expects Chemours to take all necessary steps to minimize its PFAS impacts on the environment. Pursuing litigation threatens to delay implementation beyond the Consent Order deadline of March 2023 and extend the ongoing contamination reaching the river and impacting downstream residents.

October 17, 2022

REMINDER: DEQ to hold community meeting October 11 on the Lower Cape Fear River private well sampling

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, October 11, at Roland-Grise Middle School in Wilmington. DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies. 

When: Tuesday, October 11 at 6 p.m.

Where: Roland-Grise Middle School Auditorium

              4412 Lake Ave, Wilmington, NC 28403

              Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival at the meeting.

At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is sampling for PFAS contamination in eligible private drinking water wells downstream of the Fayetteville Works Facility. Chemours is required to provide alternate water supplies to residents whose wells exceed specific action levels.

To have your well sampled, call Chemours at (910) 678-1100. Messages to the Chemours call line are monitored during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Chemours should respond within 24-to-48 hours starting on the next business day. Chemours is also sending letters to well owners/residents requesting information about primary drinking water sources and offering sampling.

Additional well sampling information for residents is available on the DEQ website:  https://deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/genx-investigation/well-sampling-information-lower-cape-fear-area-residents.

October 7, 2022

DEQ to hold community meeting October 11 on the Lower Cape Fear River private well sampling

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, October 11, at Roland-Grise Middle School in Wilmington. DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies.

When: Tuesday, October 11 at 6 p.m.

Where: Roland-Grise Middle School Auditorium

4412 Lake Ave, Wilmington, NC 28403

Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival at the meeting.

 

At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is sampling for PFAS contamination in eligible private drinking water wells downstream of the Fayetteville Works Facility. Chemours is required to provide alternate water supplies to residents whose wells exceed specific action levels.

To have your well sampled, call Chemours at (910) 678-1100. Messages to the Chemours call-line are monitored during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Chemours should respond within 24-to-48 hours starting on the next business day. Chemours is also sending letters to well owners/residents requesting information about primary drinking water sources and offering sampling.

Additional well sampling information for residents is available on the DEQ website:  https://deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/genx-investigation/well-sampling-information-lower-cape-fear-area-residents

September 15, 2022

DEQ announces Action Strategy for PFAS

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality announced the agency’s Action Strategy for PFAS today during an event in Wilmington. The DEQ Action Strategy for PFAS contains three priorities: protecting communities, protecting drinking water and cleaning up existing contamination.

“Families deserve to have confidence that they’re getting clean water when they turn on the tap,” Governor Cooper said. “North Carolina has taken the lead across the country in demanding accountability for PFAS and other emerging chemical compounds and this plan will help us continue to proactively protect our communities.”

“In the last five years, communities along the Cape Fear River have learned far more than most about GenX and PFAS, or forever chemicals, and their impacts and we want to ensure that in the future no other community experiences what they have already been though,” said Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser. “DEQ’s Action Strategy lays out our priorities to address PFAS comprehensively across our state and our commitment to propose enforceable standards for PFAS chemicals.”

DEQ’s priority areas include actions to identify health and exposure risks, develop the science needed to set enforceable limits, and steps to minimize future PFAS pollution.

DEQ, in consultation with DHHS and the Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board, is working to create a list of Priority PFAS compounds most prevalent in North Carolina.  DEQ plans to propose groundwater, surface water and drinking water standards for priority PFAS and will initiate rulemaking for those that have available scientific data. For compounds without the required data, DEQ will work with academic partners to develop the data needed to set standards.

While standards are being developed, DEQ will provide technical assistance to permittees who take early action and chose to reduce their releases into the environment through materials substitution, pollution control and treatment systems, and other innovative techniques.

The DEQ Strategy for PFAS Action is available online at: https://deq.nc.gov/media/30108/open

June 7, 2022

Should your well be considered for Chemours drinking water well testing?

Chemours has begun a drinking water well testing program in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, and Pender counties. The testing is being performed per the revised Interim Four Counties Sampling and Drinking Water Plan (Plan). The revised Plan was submitted to North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ; https://deq.nc.gov/) on April 1, 2022.

Chemours is in the process of identifying private drinking water wells that may qualify for testing. The water will be tested for the 12 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds listed in the Consent Order (CO) and may be also other PFAS compounds as well as non-PFAS water quality parameters. Call (910) 678-1100 and leave a message if you feel your well should be tested.  A team member will call you back within three business days.

For more information, please check the Fayetteville Works website at: https://www.chemours.com/en/about-chemours/global-reach/fayetteville-works.

Initial-Sampling-Poster_Four_Counties_R2
May 26, 2022

DEQ accepting comments on Draft Permit for Project to Substantially Reduce PFAS Entering the Cape Fear River

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is currently accepting public comments on a draft discharge permit for a proposed groundwater treatment system at the Chemours facility that would substantially reduce PFAS entering the Cape Fear River via contaminated groundwater.

Since 2017, Chemours has been prohibited from discharging PFAS-contaminated wastewater from its plant operations into the Cape Fear River.  However, historic operations at the facility have caused significant groundwater contamination at the site.  Currently, this heavily contaminated groundwater flows untreated to the Cape Fear River.  This groundwater may contribute over 60% of the PFAS flowing from the facility to the river.  Without intervention, this untreated groundwater will continue to contaminate the river and downstream water supplies for years to come.

The Consent Order requires Chemours to address this contamination by installing an underground barrier wall that will run more than a mile alongside the Cape Fear River.  This wall will intercept contaminated groundwater from the facility before it reaches the river and a series of extraction wells will pump the captured groundwater to a treatment system.  The draft permit requires that the treatment system remove at least 99% of PFAS from the pumped groundwater before it enters the river.  Without this treatment system and accompanying discharge permit, this heavily contaminated groundwater would continue to flow to the river untreated.

April 22, 2022
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