Cape Fear River Watch

Shows arial view of construction of a thermal oxidizer to mitigate PFAS, machinery, building, etc at a the Chemours facility that has dumped PFAS and other fluorochemicals into nearby rivers, the air.

DEQ rejects Chemours corrective action plan

April 8, 2020 by Greg Barnes

DEQ rejects Chemours corrective action plan - North Carolina Health News

Chemours said the plan would reduce PFAS loading into the Cape Fear River by at least 75 percent. DEQ Secretary Michael Regan called the plan “clearly deficient” and in need of “extensive revisions.”

By Greg Barnes The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that a corrective action plan submitted by the Chemours chemical company is inadequate in addressing decades of groundwater and soil contamination surrounding the plant. The DEQ said in a news release that the plan, which Chemours submitted on a Dec. 31 due-by date, will […]

Shows hands pouring a chemical into a testing container that labeled "Microfiber filter" These processes - along with mass spectrometry - helped identify GenX in the Cape Fear River. NC State will have a research center dedicated to PFAS.

N.C. State receives $7.4 million grant to establish PFAS research center

March 18, 2020 by Greg Barnes

N.C. State receives $7.4 million grant to establish PFAS research center - North Carolina Health News

The center will expand on existing studies, including human exposure to PFAS in Wilmington and the Fayetteville area, and take a deeper look into getting rid of the chemicals.

By Greg Barnes During the past few years, researchers at N.C. State University have taken blood and tap water samples from people in the Wilmington and Fayetteville areas to assess their exposure to GenX and other PFAS chemicals. Now, with a $7.4 million federal grant announced this month, they plan to dive even deeper into […]

Houses against a blue sky in an area with wells contaminated by forever chemicals

People are buying houses unaware of ‘forever chemicals’ in their well water

January 6, 2020 by Greg Barnes

People are buying houses unaware of ‘forever chemicals’ in their well water - North Carolina Health News

For decades, DuPont and later Chemours spewed GenX and other PFAS chemicals into the air at a plant near a rural Cumberland County community, contaminating well water for at least 1,673 homes. Despite that, homebuilding there is booming.

UPDATE: The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to extend public water lines to Alderman and Gray’s Creek elementary schools, which lie in the heart of an area contaminated by PFAS. The board agreed to allocate $10.5 million from county reserves, about $3 million of which will be used to extend the lines to […]

glass of water to signify contaminated drinking water. There's little being done about 1,4 dioxane in the Cape Fear River Basin

Little progress being made in the fight against 1,4 dioxane

October 24, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Little progress being made in the fight against 1,4 dioxane - North Carolina Health News

At least four years after high concentrations of 1,4 dioxane were discovered in the Cape Fear River basin, contamination persists and little apparently is being done to stop it.

By Greg Barnes Five years ago, N.C. State researcher Detlef Knappe and his graduate students set out to measure the probable carcinogen 1,4 dioxane in the Cape Fear River basin as part of a study for the state Department of Environmental Quality. For two years, Knappe and his students took samples in the Haw and […]

Chemours vows to become ‘best in the world’ at controlling PFAS

October 1, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Chemours vows to become ‘best in the world’ at controlling PFAS - North Carolina Health News

That promise doesn’t ring true with people living near the plant, many of whom are drinking bottled water because Chemours polluted their wells and the Cape Fear River. They find no reason to trust the company.

By Greg Barnes During a tour of Chemours last week, plant manager Brian Long stopped near a maze of pipes to explain new carbon adsorption systems that the company says are reducing airborne emissions of GenX and other potentially harmful fluorochemicals by 92 percent from 2017 levels. A few minutes later, Long stopped again, this […]

shows three people behind a table with microphones, they're each standing and raising their right hands before they testify about PFAS

Chemical company execs come under fire at congressional hearing on PFAS

September 18, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Chemical company execs come under fire at congressional hearing on PFAS - North Carolina Health News

For the first time, executives from Chemours, DuPont and 3M were called before a U.S. House environmental oversight committee to discuss their accountability in the PFAS contamination plaguing North Carolina and the country.

By Greg Barnes Near the end of a congressional hearing last week, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz grilled executives of the 3M, DuPont and Chemours chemical companies about their willingness to compensate people harmed by fluorinated compounds. The hearing, before a U.S. House subcommittee on environmental oversight and reform, was the third in a series amid […]

shows a large format photograph labeled "Carbon Adsorption Unit" sitting on a table

Chemours outlines second phase of PFAS removal

August 28, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Chemours outlines second phase of PFAS removal - North Carolina Health News

The chemical company says it has submitted data to the DEQ that will be used to help determine the best approaches to removing PFAS from the Cape Fear River and near the Bladen County plant.

By Greg Barnes The chemical giant Chemours announced Tuesday that it is taking steps to further reduce GenX and other polyfluorinated compounds from reaching the Cape Fear River and drinking water downstream of its Fayetteville Works plant in Bladen County. Chemours said in a news release that it has submitted reports and other information to […]

photo of large and complicated-looking machineray with several colorful components at the Chemours plant

Judge approves revised consent order against Chemours

February 26, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Judge approves revised consent order against Chemours - North Carolina Health News

“Profits may not come before people,” DEQ secretary says, announcing a GenX settlement with more teeth than in the original document.

By Greg Barnes A Bladen County Superior Court judge approved a revised consent order Monday that fines a chemical company $12 million and requires it to accelerate actions to remove contaminants from the air, groundwater and the Cape Fear River. “This ruling provides a clear timeline and certainty for the people of the Cape Fear […]

shows an auditorium with a capacity crowd filling the seats

Proposed changes in hog farm permit rankle farmers, leave environmentalists calling for more

February 21, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Proposed changes in hog farm permit rankle farmers, leave environmentalists calling for more - North Carolina Health News

Farmers say proposed changes in the state’s swine waste management system general permit causes undue burden. Environmentalists say lagoons and spray fields must go. No one is getting what they want.

By Greg Barnes Rick Dove nailed it Tuesday night when he said there were three disparate groups at a public comment meeting on new permits for large-scale hog farms — state regulators, farmers and environmental activists. “We are all one in Eastern North Carolina … but as long as lagoons and spray fields are in […]

photograph of the industrial site on the border between Cumberland and Bladen Counties

Environmentalists bemoan regulators’ lack of transparency on imported shipments of GenX wastewater

February 14, 2019 by Greg Barnes

Environmentalists bemoan regulators’ lack of transparency on imported shipments of GenX wastewater - North Carolina Health News

State and federal officials have known about the shipments from the Netherlands to Fayetteville for at least a year but never told the public.

By Greg Barnes UPDATE: This story has been updated to note the release on Feb. 14 of new EPA “action plan” to research, monitor, detect and remove of PFAS compounds from the environment. See the end of the story for details. The state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency knew that […]

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