Read the full article by Emily Williams (Bladen Journal)
“FAYETTEVILLE — Families and community groups from all over the state shared their concerns about the chemicals that are being released into the Cape Fear River on Saturday in a peaceful protest on the Cumberland County side of the Fayetteville Works facility entrance.
‘We came out here to help support the protest,’ said Jesse Lemons, ‘and try to get some rectification on what is going on here at the plant.
‘We have a tainted well. It came back positive. So they started to send us water. We are trying to stay in front of the situation and keep it up.’
He said he wants to know what is going on, what is happening, and what Chemours is doing for the people…
He is also involved with the lawsuit against Chemours, with Barron and Bud, and he is waiting on what the law office wants them to do.
‘We are just trying to figure out where is our spot in this,’ he said. ‘We have been here about four years now, and when this just started getting known.’
Chemours has been under the microscope regionally since June 2017, when the StarNews newspaper of Wilmington reported GenX was being discharged into the Cape Fear River. The river supplies drinking water to some municipalities downstream, including Wilmington.
GenX is a trade name for C3 dimer acid, a compound used in the manufacture of products such as food packaging, nonstick coatings and firefighting foam. It’s also a byproduct of certain manufacturing processes. HFPO-DA, an acronym for hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid, is another name for the member of a family of chemical compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS…
He said others told him to get his well tested, and he started spreading the word. One of his neighbors has a brain tumor; they may think that it is linked to the contamination, he said. That tumor has just developed in the last four years, he explained…
‘What’s going to make a change is the people of this community getting together and speaking clearly what is happening to them and their families,’ Bruce Skinner said.
Skinner has been attending meetings that were hosted by the Department of Environmental Quality at Bladen Community College, and has become actively involved.
‘We are losing people to the reported cancer deaths that this chemical can cause,’ he said. ‘We are about to stop delivering water to anyone that has a reverse osmosis system. Anybody that has a neighbor, that has GenX in their water, should all be on bottled water.’ …
Crystal Cavalier-Keck, from the Occoneechee Saponi Tribe from Mebane, came out to support her friend Jane Jacobs, who is with the Cape Fear Tuscarora Tribe.
‘I’m helping protect the Haw River,’ she said. ‘Jane said she needed my help to come out here and protest the Chemours plant for dumping in the water.
‘I am here to support her and bring attention to this cause. Whatever happens down here, it does come up to where we live. It’s killing our people and it’s killing us.’
For Beth Kline-Markesino, the largest surprise was the number of people who traveled to support her event, she said.
‘We have had a lot of out-of-town support with this event, and it is a global event,’ she said. ‘And having the Tuscarora Tribe now joining us has been great support. It has been really refreshing to have their knowledge.’
Michelle Jones lives in Lumberton, and she also came out in support of Jaacobs.
‘I have heard a little about it, in the news here and there,’ she said. ‘You don’t hear enough about it, which is one of the biggest problems.’
Jacobs told her about it and Jones did some reading…
Kathryn Mandujano just moved to the area from Hope Mills and the Jack Britt High School district.
‘We moved from city water into a brand new development and brand new build,’ she said.
Her concern — the contamination of the well water was not disclosed, and almost hidden in her purchase…”