“Nearly all the 27 private wells tested in Robeson County for GenX have the potentially cancer causing compound, the county health director said today.
None of the wells have levels of GenX close to the state Department of Health and Human Services’ provisional health goal for the compound, according to Bill Smith, Robeson County’s health director
Smith said GenX was detected in 25 of the wells, with the highest level showing 41.8 parts per trillion. The state’s health goal is to not exceed 140 parts per trillion.
Robeson County officials are testing wells in the Shaw Mill Road area between the Bladen County line and St. Pauls for GenX and two related compounds. The wells are about three miles from the Chemours plant, where GenX is made.
The wells with the highest detection of GenX were the closest to the plant, Smith said…
PFOA, an acronym for perfluorooctanoic acid, also is known as C8 because it has eight carbon atoms. PFOS, short for perfluorooctane sulfonate, also has eight carbon atoms.
The EPA has set a health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion for a combination of the two compounds.
All the test results in the Robeson County wells were below that level, Smith said. The highest was a well that had 15.8 parts per trillion of PFOS and 9.12 parts per trillion of PFOA, he said.
Smith said 25 wells had PFOS, and 21 had PFOA. Only one well did not have one of the compounds and 26 had more than one, he said.”
Read the full article by Steve DeVane.