“Joan Jackson and her husband, Lawrence, have lived a mile and half from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant for about 40 years. They’ve relied on a 70-foot well for their water — water that hasn’t felt right for some time.
Although state tests showed the Jacksons’ well tested below the health advisory goal for GenX and older fluorinated compounds, PFOA and PFAS, there is something amiss, Joan Jackson said.
‘I despise putting my hands in it,’ she told state environmental officials at a public meeting in Robeson County last night. ‘It leaves your hands sticky and nasty feeling. I want to know what it is’…
Stories like these, as well as new scientific information about fluorinated compounds, have prompted state and federal officials to broaden to the scope of potential health effects from this family of chemicals. The EPA underscored that point at a national summit last week, said Assistant DEQ Secretary Sheila Holman, among state officials who attended the event.
‘It’s not advisable to solely evaluate compounds one at a time, but cumulatively,’ Holman said…
The state Science Advisory Board could recommend ‘tweaks’ to the GenX provisional health goal as early as its June 18 meeting, Holman said…
Meanwhile, Scott of the Division of Waste Management said the state has begun testing a limited number of wells for other compounds. Chemours is conducting the bulk of the testing, though, with the state checking the company’s work…
And by late 2019 or early 2020, Chemours is scheduled to install thermal oxiders, which could reduce the contamination by 99 percent. These oxiders destroy the compounds by intense heat, upward of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
That time frame is still too long for residents who rely on bottled water for cooking and drinking. Scott said state officials have told Chemours they ‘want a plan for permanent water lines’ to be extended — and paid for by the company — to affected well owners.”
Read the full article by Lisa Sorg