Read the full article by Kirk Ross (Coastal Review Online)
“RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, and about three dozen cosponsors, have introduced a series of bills intended to demonstrate the range of steps the state could take in regulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Harrison acknowledged Tuesday that none are likely to pass in their current form, but she was disappointed that after years of work the legislature has been unable to move on further PFAS regulation.
‘It’s frustrating to know that our citizens are getting poisoned all across the state,’ she said. ‘Known carcinogens, known neurotoxicants, and we don’t do anything about it. It’s extraordinarily frustrating to me.’
Last year, Harrison worked with industry representatives to try and find some middle ground, but an attempt to regulate firefighting foam containing PFAS stalled over industry objections. Further PFAS studies and additional PFAS funding for the state Department of Environmental Quality got tangled up in the battle over the state budget and never emerged in any of the mini-budgets approved during the impasse.
Now, funds will be even tighter, Harrison said, adding that big policy moves aren’t likely, considering the need to focus on the state’s COVID-19 response. But by putting the options and strategies out in bill form, Harrison said she hoped to lay the groundwork for when the legislature does start working on a strategy.
Grady McCallie, policy director for the North Carolina Conservation Network, said the three bills offer a “comprehensive statement” of the complexity of setting up a regulatory system for PFAS.
‘This suite of bills basically says, ‘This is a complicated problem and we have to push it in several different directions,’ McCallie said. ‘It’s not just one strategy.’
It also broadens the discussion beyond reaction to the GenX contamination in the lower Cape Fear River.
DEQ has done a good job dealing with Chemours and reducing GenX discharges from its Fayetteville Works facility, McCallie said. What’s lacking, he said, is the recognition that there are many more PFAS substances and sources to deal with.
‘What North Carolina has not done yet is deal with the broader problem of other dischargers upstream who are putting in a variety of contaminating chemicals that are also toxic,’ he said.
What the bills do
The three bills offer three approaches to PFAS regulation…”