Related — GOP, Democrats file bills aimed at Chemours’ contamination

“After failed attempts this year to address newly discovered pollution in North Carolina’s drinking water, the state’s Republican-led legislature now appears ready to pass a wide-ranging bill that contains millions of dollars for pollution response as well as new regulatory powers for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

However, the environmental community is split over whether to celebrate or criticize the bill, and Cooper has yet to say if he supports it. Some environmental groups say the bill could actually end up helping the companies that pollute…

The legislature failed several months ago to reach an agreement on a different bill to fund the state’s GenX response and hasn’t taken it up since then. But on Thursday the sponsors from both chambers — who included the Republicans’ main GenX bill writers, Wilmington’s Rep. Ted Davis and Sen. Michael Lee — defended their work in a joint statement…

The N.C. Sierra Club and Southern Environmental Law Center came out against the new bill, saying it would actually slow down and complicate North Carolina’s ability to stop polluters like the one at the heart of the GenX pollution…

Gavin said that since this bill would add new language that’s much more specific — clearly targeted at just Chemours — it could harm the government’s ability to go after any other company. She said that’s because when there are two similar laws on the books, courts tend to favor the more specific, detailed law. At the very least, she said, this bill would increase the chances of a lengthy legal battle in future pollution cases…

Cooper is asking the legislature for $14.5 million for DEQ and the Department of Health and Human Services — to find where these newly discovered pollutants are, and figure out how harmful they are and how to deal with them. The legislature, however, would give DEQ just $1.8 million while also freeing up $8 million for the N.C. Policy Collaboratory, in the form of grants to do the same type of work Cooper wanted DEQ and DHHS to do.

Gavin said that will create unnecessary layers of bureaucracy since only DEQ can act on whatever data on pollution is eventually collected.

‘No matter how much information the universities produce, they’re not legally capable of doing the enforcement part,’ Gavin said. ‘So you really need DEQ to be funded. … And there’s been seven years of cuts so I don’t think those resources are there.’ ”

Read the full article by Will Doran