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Rural cities and towns struggle to pay for water systems during the pandemic
By: Kevin Griffin, Hickory Daily Record | N.C. News Collaborative August 7, 2020 This spring, Tyrrell County, with the smallest population in the state, came within 24 hours of defaulting on a bond issued to build one of its water plants. The state stepped in and helped make the payment, but county leaders don’t know how they will make the next one. The county’s biggest water customer, a state prison, closed last fall. Tyrrell County is one of dozens of small, rural governments managing utility systems teetering on bankruptcy. The cost of running an aging water system or paying vendors for…
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Are Drinking Water Suppliers Communicating Well with Spanish Speaking Communities?
READ THE NEW REPORT! North Carolina is home to over 1 million Hispanic or LatinX inhabitants. While it would be incorrect to assume this entire population only speaks Spanish, our findings during our Mobile Home Park drinking water canvas last summer proved that many residents across the state may not be receiving critical health and service information about their drinking water except in English. The US EPA characterizes a public water system (PWS) as one that “provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances to at least 15…
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21 state attorneys general sue over new Trump water rule
By: Don Thompson, Associated Press July 21, 2020 Attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that new federal rules undermine their ability to protect rivers, lakes and streams within their borders. They say that new final rules issued last week by the Environmental Protection Agency alter a practice dating back more than 30 years giving state governments the authority to review, block or put conditions on federally permitted water projects. President Donald Trump in April 2019 issued an executive order directing the change that critics said could make it…
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House bill would ban sale, production of PFAS in North Carolina
By: Lisa Sorg, NC Policy Watch May 15, 2020 Companies could no longer manufacture PFAS, also known as perfluorinated compounds, in North Carolina under a new proposal, House Bill 1109. If enacted into law, the measure would also prohibit the export of the toxic compounds, “except for products specifically authorized or required to contain PFAS under federal law.” The bill was introduced May 14; it has eight co-sponsors, all Democrats: Pricey Harrison, John Autry, Alison Dahle, Susan Fisher, Marcia Morey, Deb Butler, Zack Hawkins and Raymond Smith. There are 5,000 types of PFAS. Most are used in, or byproducts…
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Supreme Court hands environmentalists a win in water pollution case
By: John Kruzel, The Hill April 23, 2020 The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with environmentalists by giving a…
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Utilities Face Pressure To Stop Shutting Off Services Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
By: Alexander C. Kaufman, The Huffington Post March 13, 2020 A breakup doubled Andrea Guinn’s living expenses overnight. Saddled with the bills and rent for the apartment she once shared with her ex in Queens, she fell behind on payments to Consolidated Edison, the $29 billion investor-owned utility that enjoys a monopoly on electricity in New York City. By February, the 33-year-old said, she paid off all but $74 of the nearly $600 she owed the utility and stayed current on her monthly bills. But one night last month, she…
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New Data Show Severity of Water Contamination in Poor Neighborhoods
By: Daniel Ross, Truthout October 23, 2019 Curious to know exactly what’s in the water that flows from your taps? Then simply plug your zip code into the latest iteration of the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Tap Water Database. The database provides an analysis of the water…
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NEW REPORT: Working Towards Water Justice in North Carolina Mobile Home Parks
This summer, we worked with our Duke University Stanback intern, Elizabeth Allen, to conduct a “listening canvas,” reaching over 100 mobile home park communities in 9 counties to learn whether and where advocacy was needed to protect residents’ right to drinking water. Our outreach uncovered concerning patterns regarding landord disputes and drinking water access and quality. Read the full report here! Our outreach helped us understand residents’…
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NC not among states getting federal grants to study PFAS exposure on health
By: Greg Barnes, North Carolina Health News September 25, 2019 North Carolina is not among seven states that will be awarded federal grant funding to conduct health studies on people in specific communities who have been drinking water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. The reason: North Carolina, which is said to have the third-worst PFAS contamination in the country, did not apply for a grant. “It had nothing to do with someone dropping a ball at all in this case,” said Heather Stapleton, a researcher at Duke University whose work includes PFAS contamination. Stapleton said she…
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Wake County notifying thousands about possibly unsafe drinking water in private wells
By: Anna Johnson, Raleigh News & Observer June 24, 2019 Wake County is notifying thousands of households on private wells that their drinking water may have unhealthy levels of radiological chemicals like uranium and radon. An estimated one in five private wells in eastern Wake County may exceed safe drinking-water standards for some chemicals, officials said at a Monday news conference. They plan to notify 19,000 property owners by mail starting this week. People don’t need to panic, said Evan Kane, the county’s groundwater protection…
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