Bladen County

The Smithfield Foods processing plant in Tar Heel employs up to 5,000 workers and slaughters 30,000 to 35,000 hogs a day: Photo credit: Melissa Sue Garrets, The Fayetteville Observer

Congressional subcommittee launches investigation into coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants

February 12, 2021 by Greg Barnes Leave a Comment

Congressional subcommittee launches investigation into coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants - North Carolina Health News

The subcommittee says the plants refused to take basic precautions to protect workers and showed a “callous disregard” for their health.

By Greg Barnes A congressional subcommittee is investigating multiple coronavirus outbreaks at meat and poultry processing plants in North Carolina and throughout the country. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis announced Feb. 1 that it is seeking internal documents from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and three of the nation’s largest […]

shows a bridge over the Cape Fear River, photo taken at the level of the water. GenX has been contaminating the river with PFAS for years, it's been revealed.

DEQ cites Chemours for PFAS treatment system failures

January 28, 2021 by Greg Barnes

DEQ cites Chemours for PFAS treatment system failures - North Carolina Health News

The chemical plant in Bladen County receives notice of violation for problems with a new treatment system that is expected to remove 99 percent of residual PFAS before they reach the Cape Fear River.

By Greg Barnes By the end of September, a treatment system the Chemours chemical company had just installed was supposed to stop 99 percent of residual contamination of “forever chemicals” from escaping an old outfall and flowing into the Cape Fear River. Only the system did not work properly and toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances […]

A cross stitched pattern of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19,a round shape with spikes coming out of it.

A look back at 2020’s biggest story: The COVID-19 pandemic

December 30, 2020 by Editor

A look back at 2020’s biggest story: The COVID-19 pandemic - North Carolina Health News

NC Health News staffers have published more than 350 stories about COVID in 2020. We take a look at the many ways, large and small, that COVID has affected North Carolina and its population and pull out some of the larger themes we saw emerge.

By North Carolina Health News staff COVID’s ascent in rural areas sheds light on longstanding disparities The pandemic may have begun in cities and population centers, but as the months wore on, it took hold in rural areas across the state in various ways. The first shockwaves of the pandemic in rural North Carolina began […]

A lagoon for hog waste. Photo shows a lake of feces next to buildings

Court rejects Smithfield’s arguments, giving low-income neighbors of hog farms hope

December 4, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Court rejects Smithfield’s arguments, giving low-income neighbors of hog farms hope - North Carolina Health News

A federal appeals court last month struck down most of Smithfield Foods’ arguments in a scathing rebuke to the industry’s pork production methods and its treatment of low-income neighbors.

By Greg Barnes Elsie Herring said she is thrilled by a federal appeals court ruling last month that rejected most of the arguments presented by Smithfield Foods in a case that has pitted the world’s largest hog producer against its mostly low-income Black neighbors. Herring, 72, said she has been fighting how Smithfield raises its […]

shows a person with a cuff on their arm, a pair of hands in rubber gloves is about to draw blood

Duke study finds high PFAS levels in Pittsboro residents’ blood

October 29, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Duke study finds high PFAS levels in Pittsboro residents’ blood - North Carolina Health News

The study says about 1 million people may be drinking water that contains PFAS contamination that originates in the Haw River and flows downstream into the Cape Fear River.

By Greg Barnes A new Duke University study has found that the concentrations of some potentially cancerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — are two to four times higher in the blood of Pittsboro residents than the U.S. population as a whole. The study also found that some types of PFAS chemicals found […]

North Carolina attorney general sues Chemours, DuPont over PFAS contamination

October 14, 2020 by Greg Barnes

North Carolina attorney general sues Chemours, DuPont over PFAS contamination - North Carolina Health News

Josh Stein says the chemical companies put profits over people and need “to pay for the mess they created.”

By Greg Barnes North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a lawsuit Tuesday saying the Chemours and DuPont chemical companies need to be held accountable for contaminating the state’s natural resources with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. “DuPont and Chemours dumped PFAS into our state’s drinking waters when they knew that these forever […]

When the water at the Sanford water plant in September, it had high rates of PFAS

State lawmaker says fighting PFAS in NC will require more than enforceable standards

September 10, 2020 by Greg Barnes

State lawmaker says fighting PFAS in NC will require more than enforceable standards - North Carolina Health News

Rep. Pricey Harrison would welcome new maximum contaminant levels for certain types of PFAS, but she worries that industries would just switch to another PFAS compound, resulting in a game of whack-a-mole. Part 2 of 2

By Greg Barnes Months after DuPont bought the rights to produce Perfluorooctanoic acid (known as PFOA or C8) from Minnesota’s 3M Corp. in 2002, DuPont discovered that the suspected carcinogen used to make Teflon had leaked into the groundwater under the company’s Fayetteville Works plant. Except for some local newspaper articles and rumblings from environmental […]

Dr. Jamie DeWitt, right, and Samuel Vance, a biomedical science master’s program student, conduct research into the health effects of PFAS in DeWitt’s lab at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. Photo credit: East Carolina University.

NC getting tougher on PFAS polluters, but researchers say more action is needed

September 9, 2020 by Greg Barnes

NC getting tougher on PFAS polluters, but researchers say more action is needed - North Carolina Health News

The researchers and state Rep. Pricey Harrison say North Carolina should follow other states and develop maximum contaminant levels for PFAS, but that doesn’t appear likely to happen soon. Part 1 of 2

Greg Barnes North Carolina is getting tougher on industries that pollute the state’s air and waterways with potentially carcinogenic per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” On Aug. 10, state Attorney General Josh Stein announced that he is starting an investigation into manufacturers and others that have fouled the state’s lakes, […]

shows men bent over green plants, pulling peppers into baskets

Coronavirus Today – July 23 – Follow the three Ws, say Mexican and Guatemalan consulate leaders; Plug for Medicaid expansion; ‘Not yet turned a corner’

July 23, 2020 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – July 23 – Follow the three Ws, say Mexican and Guatemalan consulate leaders; Plug for Medicaid expansion; ‘Not yet turned a corner’ - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina is on steadier ground than many Southern states in its fight against COVID-19, but cases continue to rise especially in Latino communities.

By Anne Blythe North Carolina’s governor, top public health officials and high-ranking leaders from the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates sent an urgent message to Latinx and Hispanic residents on Thursday. COVID-19 is spreading swiftly and disproportionately among their communities, and the best way to fight the virus and keep their communities strong and healthy is […]

Shows two women in a lab, manipulating tools in order to test water samples, which are arranged on the tabletop

Research suggests link between PFAS contamination and the coronavirus

July 13, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Research suggests link between PFAS contamination and the coronavirus - North Carolina Health News

Studies say people with high levels of PFAS in their systems could be more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.

By Greg Barnes John Wolfe doesn’t know what else he can do to protect himself against the coronavirus. The Wilmington boat captain follows all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He wears a mask and requires tourists on his boat to do the same. He practices social distancing and washes his hands […]

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