“FAYETTEVILLE — Carbon filters appear to be effective at screening GenX from drinking water in private wells and municipal water systems near a Chemours plant in West Virginia, federal regulators say.
That should be encouraging news for thousands of homeowners in southeastern North Carolina whose drinking water has been contaminated with GenX and perhaps more than a dozen other chemicals released by Chemours and DuPont since at least 1980.
Late in 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency directed Chemours to test 10 private wells and four public water supplies for GenX near its Washington Works plant in West Virginia. Nine of the 14 wells were found to contain the chemical, but none had detectable levels after the water passed through [granular] activated carbon filters…
News broke in June that high levels of GenX had been found in Wilmington’s drinking water, which comes from the Cape Fear River. Since then, researchers have discovered 190 private wells surrounding the Fayetteville Works plant that contain GenX at levels exceeding what the state considers safe for drinking water. The effect of GenX on humans isn’t known, but animal studies link it to several forms of cancer.
The EPA ordered Chemours to test for GenX in Ohio and West Virginia after the discovery in North Carolina. The 14 wells and municipal water systems have used granular activated carbon filtration systems for years, after DuPont was ordered to install them because of earlier high levels of C8 contamination.
The EPA found that the filters appear to be working…
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which provides drinking water to the Wilmington area, is conducting similar tests to see if granular activated carbon filters or ion exchange filters can eliminate GenX and other contaminants that remain in its treated water.
‘Our study is almost complete, and we expect to have final results in May,’ said Jim Flechtner, the water authority’s executive director.”
Read the full article in the Winston-Salem Journal