• Community Meeting – Pender County Private Well Sampling

    The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, February 28, at Heide Trask Senior High School Auditorium in Rocky Point. DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies. When:        Tuesday, February 28 at 6 p.m. Where:      Heide Trask Senior High School                 14328 NC Hwy 210, Rocky Point, NC 28457 Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival…


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  • A closer look at the problem of contaminated drinking water wells in NC

    By: Lisa Sorg November 14, 2022 Under a special state fund 658 drinking water wells were sampled for contamination, many of them in Wake County Since 2007 state regulators have sampled more than 5,500 private wells for potential contamination under the Bernard Allen Memorial Emergency Drinking Water Fund, according to an annual report filed by the Department of Environmental Quality. The state legislature created the fund — named after a former Wake County state legislator — in 2006. The money can be used to pay to notify persons whose wells are at risk of contamination, to pay for the cost of testing, and to provide alternate drinking water supplies to affected residents. There is an income limit: Households must earn no more than 300% of the current federal poverty level. In 2022, that’s equivalent to an annual income of $83,000 for a family of four. In 2021, the General Assembly passed a law that eliminated the income requirements for residents with wells contaminated by PFAS. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is working on guidelines related to this expansion of program eligibility, according to the annual report. The fund does have shortcomings. It does not cover naturally occurring contamination. For example, many drinking water wells in the North Carolina “slate belt” are contaminated with arsenic from the underlying rock. Those well owners have to find other funding, including out-of-pocket expenses, to treat their water. If they are connected to a public water supply, they could be required to pay a tie-in fee, which can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s a closer look at where the state has sampled and provided alternate water supplies. Figures are for July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, unless otherwise noted. You can see county-by-county totals here. 345 – Total number of groundwater contamination sites where no responsible party can be identified and that have private drinking water wells nearby 205 – Number of those same sites with nearby contaminated drinking water wells 1,611 – Number of letters DEQ sent to property owners asking for permission to sample drinking water wells, fiscal year 2021-22* 658 – Of those, the number of drinking water wells that DEQ received permission to sample 152 – Number of sampled wells in Wake County, the most of any county 89 – Number sampled in Guilford County, which ranked second 37 – Number of counties in which wells were sampled 49 – Number of homes that received alternate water supplies from DEQ 12 – Number of homes that received bottled water as a temporary supply (including homes in Buncombe, Gaston, Guilford, Henderson, Mecklenburg, Orange and Wake counties) 4 – Number of homes where treatment systems were installed (Buncombe, Guilford, Wake) 1 – Number of homes connected to a public water service (Mecklenburg) $700,000 – State appropriations the fund received $300,000 – Amount that is dedicated to work associated with PFAS, or perfluorinated compounds *Fiscal year is July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. Source: DEQ annual report to state legislature, dated Oct. 1, 2022. Read on NC Policy Watch And for more information, read our report, “Advancing Well User Protections Through Policy,” released on World Water Day this year highlighting the need to: 1.       Increase Funding, Scope & Accessibility of the Bernard Allen Fund, and 2.       Require Well Testing Prior to Real Estate Transactions


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  • Report shows contaminated groundwater is migrating toward Teer Quarry, site of Durham’s future water supply

    By: Lisa Sorg November 3, 2022 High levels of several toxic chemicals have been detected in groundwater near Teer Quarry, storage site for Durham’s future water supply, and are migrating toward the pit itself, state documents show. However, it is still uncertain if these compounds will reach the quarry, and if so, at what concentrations. The contaminant of greatest concern is 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen. It was found in more than half of the 26 groundwater monitoring wells at levels 3 to 50 times above the state’s target value for water supplies, according to a consultant’s report filed with the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Neither the EPA nor DEQ has set a legally enforceable maximum for 1,4-Dioxane, but state officials have recommended that raw water supplies, such as those stored in the quarry, contain no more than 0.35 parts per billion. The EPA announced yesterday that it would add 1,4-Dioxane to the latest list of contaminants that could be regulated within the next five years under the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFAS, or perfluorinated compounds, also widespread in drinking water supplies, including Durham’s, is also on the list 1,4-dioxane can be found in solvents, plastics production, industrial spills and discharges from municipal wastewater plants. Contaminated wastewater was used to make compost in Sampson County, Policy Watch previously reported.  The chemical is also found in many household products like laundry detergent, shampoos and cosmetics as a byproduct of manufacturing. Along with Jordan Lake, Teer Quarry is a potential new water resource for Durham.  A confluence of climate change and the city’s rapid growth – its population could double over the next 25 years – is forcing Durham to seek additional sources of drinking water. Currently, the city’s primary drinking water sources are Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir. Durham also has agreements with Cary, Hillsborough, Chatham County and OWASA, in Orange County to buy and sell water. For 15 years, city officials have eyed the Teer Quarry as storage for water. Pending approval from DEQ, they are proposing to pump water from both Lake Michie and a segment of the Eno River and store it in Teer Quarry for future treatment and use. DEQ is holding a meeting tonight to add the designation “critical area” to part of the Eno River watershed’s classification to protect the area from further contamination. Durham construction mogul Nello Teer originally owned and operated the rock quarry, then sold it to Hanson Aggregates. Mining stopped in the late 1980s, and the city now owns the quarry. Hanson still operates a crushed stone sales yard onsite. At 200 feet deep, the quarry can hold 1.58 billion gallons, or nearly two months’ worth of water. Durham uses 28-to-30 million gallons of water per day, according to the city. There are two sources of the contamination on quarry property: underground storage tanks from an old gasoline station and spills from a former asphalt plant and NC Department of Transportation testing laboratory. Contamination levels and groundwater flows vary depending on the aquifer zones. Compounds in the groundwater in the intermediate and deep zones are “likely migrating toward the pit,” according to a Phase II Remedial Investigation Report commissioned by DEQ. The deep zone is the most likely area to discharge directly into the quarry pit. Five of six monitoring wells in the deep zone detected 1,4-Dioxane, at concentrations ranging from 3 to 20 times higher than DEQ’s target value, according to state records. Monitoring records since 2017 show that levels have gradually decreased but still far exceed target values. 1,4-Dioxane is often called a “forever chemical” because it does not quickly degrade in the environment. The Durham Environmental Affairs Board has not discussed the city’s proposal or contamination near the quarry. Juilee Malavade, the EAB chairperson, told Policy Watch in an email that the group had not yet been briefed on the issue. “We plan on inquiring regarding the environmental condition of the quarry,” Malavade said. Other contaminants include benzene and vinyl chloride, known to cause cancer; naphthalene, which the EPA has classified as a possible carcinogen; and bix(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, a probable carcinogen. DEQ has ranked the site as “high risk,” even though all of the nearby homes are now connected to public water supplies. In 2008, the consulting firm Highlands Environmental, working on behalf of Hanson Aggregates, asked DEQ to lower the site hazard ranking because no private drinking water wells were in use. DEQ declined to do so “when it was determined the quarry pit may be used as an emergency supply reservoir for the City of Durham water supply,” state documents read. Joe Lunne, spokesperson for the Durham’s Department of Water Management, told Policy Watch that 1,4-Dioxane has never been found in Teer Quarry water, which would be treated before it flowed from public taps. A DEQ memorandum related to Durham’s proposal recommends annual surface water monitoring of quarry water. Lunne of the Durham Water Management Department said the location of monitoring points “will depend, at least in some part” on where the intake would be installed in the quarry. Extreme weather, driven in part by climate change, has forced the city to re-examine its water options. Durham and the rest of North Carolina suffered from a historic drought in 2007. In August of that year, temperatures soared well above 100 degrees for several days, making it the second-warmest and second-driest August on record, according to the NC State Climate Office. As lakes and rivers dried up – Falls Lake looked like a moonscape – Durham at one point had just 38 days of water left in its reservoirs. The city supplemented it with water from Teer quarry. (Also in 2007, extreme winter weather halted progress toward cleaning up the quarry site. Two major snowstorms damaged the remediation system, which stopped operating and did not resume.) The USDA Forest Service in Raleigh issued a report in 2013 projecting that by 2060, the Upper Neuse River Watershed , which provides the water supply for Raleigh and Durham will to experience a 14% decrease in water yield while population growth will increase water demand by 21%. Meanwhile, more frequent droughts, floods and long periods of hot weather — all markers of climate change will alter the supply and demand for clean water. (Even during rainy stretches, the water can evaporate because of high temperatures.) If 1,4- Dioxane does reach the pit, levels could be diluted as long as the there is enough water to dilute it. The city also has a consultant “that will soon be studying treatment technologies” Lunne added, for the removal of 1,4-Dioxane and PFAS, or perfluorinated compounds. In 2018, high levels of two types of the compounds, PFOA and PFOS, were detected in Lake Michie, an existing drinking water supply; some of that water will also be stored in Teer Quarry. Traditional water treatment methods can’t remove PFAS or 1,4-Dioxane. PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane have been detected in both the Haw River and the Cape Fear River, as well as in drinking water in Pittsboro, Sanford, Fayetteville and Wilmington, according to DEQ data. Industrial dischargers and wastewater treatment plants are the likely sources. For 1,4-Dioxane, ultraviolet irradiation and hydrogen peroxide, coupled with granulated activated charcoal, is one potential treatment. Cost depends on several factors, including the amount of raw water to be treated and the level of contamination. Wilmington spent upward of $46 million to treat its drinking water for PFAS, which have been almost completely removed, and 1,4-Dioxane, whose levels have been reduced by two-thirds And unless federal or state grant money covers the expense, Durham water customers would likely have to pay for any such upgrades through higher rates. Read on NC Policy Watch


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  • Community Meeting in Columbus County on private well sampling

    The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a community information meeting on Tuesday, November 29, at the Community Center in Riegelwood Community Park. DEQ will share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties.  Staff will also answer questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies. When: Tuesday, November 29 at 6 p.m. Where: Riegelwood Community Park- Community Center 142 Waccamaw Road, Riegelwood NC 28456 Speaker sign-up will be available upon arrival at the meeting. At DEQ’s direction, Chemours is sampling for PFAS contamination in eligible private drinking water wells…


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  • After Long Delay, Groups Sue EPA for Response on Factory Farm Water Pollution Rules

    Food & Water Watch October 11, 2022 The Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to respond to a legal petition urging the agency to strengthen clean water rules governing factory farms has prompted a broad coalition of public interest and environmental justice organizations to file a lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that aims to force EPA to finally issue a formal response. More than five years ago, over 30 groups – led by Food & Water Watch – filed a rulemaking petition detailing how EPA’s regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Clean Water Act has failed to protect waterways and communities, and urging the EPA to strengthen its lax approach. The agency’s complete failure to respond, the groups say, violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which requires agencies like EPA to respond to petitions “within a reasonable time.” The suit, filed Friday, argues that the current delay is unreasonable on its face, and that EPA’s inaction is unlawfully prolonging dangerous pollution and public health threats from factory farms. Most livestock in the U.S. are raised in CAFOs, which can confine thousands, or even millions, of animals and their waste. The vast quantities of manure generated from CAFOs are typically disposed of, untreated, on cropland, where it can seep or run off to pollute waterways and drinking water sources. The Clean Water Act defines CAFOs as “point sources” of pollution, which should require polluting CAFOs to follow discharge permits that restrict their pollution discharges into rivers and streams. But due to the EPA’s weak regulations, only a small fraction of CAFOs have the required permits. The permits that do exist are weak and inadequately protective of water quality. The agency’s failed approach has led to widespread factory farm pollution in waterways and communities across the country. The petition, filed in May 2017,  provided a roadmap for EPA to close loopholes that have enabled CAFOs to avoid regulation, and to make permits stronger and more effective. EPA’s failure to respond to the Petition, and in turn, strengthen its CAFO regulations, is just one of many examples of the Agency shirking its duty to protect communities from CAFO water pollution unless compelled by legal action. For instance, it was only due to a lawsuit filed by Food & Water Watch that the Ninth Circuit recently halted EPA’s illegal failure to require CAFOs monitor their discharges like other polluting industries. With this new legal action, Petitioners hope to once again pressure the Agency to fulfill its Clean Water Act obligations for CAFOs. “This petition provided EPA with a roadmap for how it must finally regulate factory farms as required under the Clean Water Act, and explained why action is critical. EPA’s refusal to even answer simply confirms that it will not hold this industry accountable without legal and public pressure. We will not let EPA continue to delay while factory farms pollute with impunity, endangering public health and fouling our rivers and streams across the country,” said Food & Water Watch Legal Director Tarah Heinzen. “Factory farm water pollution has had an increasingly devastating impact on marginalized communities throughout the country, and especially in North Carolina. Thousands of massive hog and poultry operations—of which only 1.1 percent are permitted—have taken root in low-income communities and communities of color, where they pollute the drinking water, ruin public waterways, and degrade the health and quality of life for those that have no choice but to live nearby. Meanwhile, the NC Department of Environmental Quality expects the polluters to regulate themselves! This is an extreme environmental injustice, and EPA is needed to take action to correct it,” said North Carolina Environmental Justice Network Director of Organizing and Policy Rañia Masri. “Iowa is in the midst of a water pollution crisis, thanks to thousands of unpermitted factory farms. EPA’s weak rules have completely let Iowa off the hook from even the most basic Clean Water Act regulation of these facilities. It’s no wonder Iowa has become a magnet for CAFO industry expansion,” said Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement member Julie Duhn. “In Wisconsin, CAFOs have to have Clean Water Act permits, but that hasn’t stopped the 17 industrial dairy CAFOs in my rural county from poisoning our community’s drinking water and decimating the wildlife in our local streams. EPA must grant this petition and strengthen its rules so that rural communities no longer have to shoulder the burden of unchecked factory farm pollution and live with the stress of not having safe drinking water in their homes,” said family farmer and Kewaunee CARES and Food & Water Watch member Nancy Utesch. Petitioners in the lawsuit include: Food & Water Watch, Center for Food Safety, Dakota Rural Action, Dodge County Concerned Citizens, the Environmental Integrity Project, Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Kewaunee CARES, Midwest Environmental Advocates, and North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. The 33 original petitioners include six national public interest advocacy organizations, and twenty-seven state and community-based organizations based in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Collectively, Petitioners represent millions of members and supporters from across the country. Read the article on Food & Water Watch


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  • Aqua NC Rate Hike Public Hearing – Gastonia

    Thursday, October 27, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. Gaston County Courthouse County Commission, Public Forum Room 2nd Floor 325 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way Gastonia, North Carolina 28052 Only customers who give testimony during a public hearing (in-person or virtual) will have their comments weighed during the rate case proceedings.  Aqua North Carolina is seeking approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to raise rates for all water and sewer customers and to establish a Water and Sewer Investment Plan (WSIP). Read the full application with the proposed rates Water & Sewer Investment Plan: The WSIP is a multi-year rate-making…


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  • Aqua NC Rate Hike Public Hearing – Wilmington

    Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. New Hanover County Courthouse 317 Princess Street Courtroom 317 Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 Only customers who give testimony during a public hearing (in-person or virtual) will have their comments weighed during the rate case proceedings.  Aqua North Carolina is seeking approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to raise rates for all water and sewer customers and to establish a Water and Sewer Investment Plan (WSIP). Read the full application with the proposed rates Water & Sewer Investment Plan: The WSIP is a multi-year rate-making mechanism that will allow Aqua to set…


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  • Aqua NC Rate Hike Public Hearing – Virtual

    Thursday, October 20, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Virtual Hearing Held via Webex Instructions for advance registration below! Only customers who give testimony during a public hearing (in-person or virtual) will have their comments weighed during the rate case proceedings.  Aqua North Carolina is seeking approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to raise rates for all water and sewer customers and to establish a Water and Sewer Investment Plan (WSIP). Read the full application with the proposed rates Water & Sewer Investment Plan: The WSIP is a multi-year rate-making mechanism that will allow Aqua to set rates through…


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  • Aqua NC Rate Hike Public Hearing – Raleigh

    Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. North Carolina Utilities Commission 430 North Salisbury Street Commission Hearing Room 2115 Raleigh, North Carolina 27603   Only customers who give testimony during a public hearing (in-person or virtual) will have their comments weighed during the rate case proceedings.  Aqua North Carolina is seeking approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) to raise rates for all water and sewer customers and to establish a Water and Sewer Investment Plan (WSIP). Read the full application with the proposed rates Water & Sewer Investment Plan The WSIP is a multi-year rate-making mechanism that will allow…


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  • Consumer Confidence Reports: Opportunities and Challenges for Small NC Water Systems

    Read the Report! Where does my drinking water come from? Is my water safe to drink? How is my water being treated? If you've ever found yourself asking these common drinking water questions, you're not alone! Drinking water customers have the right to know what is in the water they are consuming and where this water comes from. This founding principle spurred the passage of the federal Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) rule in the 1996 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Consumer Confidence Reports, or annual Water Quality Reports, provide consumers with an annual snapshot of the quality of their drinking water, while also providing important information on health risks, treatment methods and other educational materials. Overall, your utility's Annual Water Quality Reports are meant to help you  make informed decisions about the water you drink! But what happens when your drinking water provider lacks the capacity or know-how to produce effective, meaningful water quality reports for their customers? Our new report seeks to explore the challenges and opportunities that small NC water systems face when publishing their annual Consumer Confidence Reports. Read the Report! With the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently in the process of revising the CCR rules, we hope our findings provide a unique insight into not only how the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) can better assist small, struggling water systems, but how the new federal rules can also be accommodating to the tens of thousands of smaller drinking water providers across the nation. While our main focus is to provide recommendations to NC DEQ and EPA about helpful tools and resources that can assist small utilities with publishing effective CCRs, the general public may also find this report helpful in: ...understanding their rights as a drinking water customer under the federal SDWA ...how they can access their annual water quality reports ...how the EPA is working to ensure the new rules reflect a greater focus on equity and inclusion for the diverse populations of drinking water customers in the United States Our new report, "Consumer Confidence Reports: Challenges and Opportunities for Small NC Water Systems" is just one of many resources Clean Water for NC has published to help community members become better informed about the quality of their drinking water. Check out our resources list below for more tips and tricks to becoming an informed drinking water expert! YouTube Video: Understanding Your Drinking Water Utility's Consumer Confidence Report Fact Sheet: Annual Water Quality Reports Brochure: Types of Water Systems in North Carolina


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