Read the full article by Adam Wagner (The News & Observer)
“Instead of developing an enforceable surface water standard that would limit industrial discharge of forever chemicals across the state, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission’s water quality committee is asking regulators to seek industry cooperation via a monitoring and reduction program.
For much of 2024, the committee has expressed skepticism about N.C. Department of Environmental Quality staff’s efforts to craft surface water quality standards for eight forever chemicals. If those rules were implemented, industrial users of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances statewide would need to implement control technologies and shift production lines to remain in compliance with state the rules.
Wednesday, the committee asked DEQ’s Division of Water Resources to develop what is being called a ‘PFAS Minimization Initiative’ — basically a statewide sampling program intended to identify the industrial users that are sending the highest amounts of three forever chemicals into North Carolina’s surface waters.”…