By Erin Smith
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State officials conducted a public information session at the Bladen Cooperative Extension Office on Thursday night to update regarding GenX and Chemours. The officials addressed carbon filtration systems and samples that were collected from 30 individuals and sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. for testing.
Zack Moore, Medical Epidemiologist with the NC Department of Health and Human Services, told those gathered that 30 people had been selected to have samples of their blood and urine sent to the CDC to be analyzed for the presence of GenX.
“We have been working with the CDC in Atlanta and the Bladen County Health Department and Cumberland County Health Department to do some testing of blood and urine samples from some residents who live near the Fayetteville Works site,” said Moore.
He said data was received from DEQ and State officials focused on the residents who had the highest concentrations of GenX in their residential wells, and invited them to participate. One person from each house and a child over the age of 12 were chosen to participate.
“This is testing the CDC is doing for us, and we were only able to get them to do 30 individuals,” said Moore.
He said the samples have already been sent to the CDC. The goal is to see if they can detect some PFAs in people’s blood who live near the Chemours site. Moore said they have not received the results of those tests yet.
NC Division of Waste Management Director, Michael Scott, discussed the granular activated carbon filtration systems (GAC systems). He said the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Chemours have been conducting a pilot test with six locations, and gathering data on how these types of systems work in terms of removing not just GenX, but other compounds such as PFOAs.
“One area our division has been actively involved in the groundwater side of things,” said Scott.
He said the testing of residential wells has now expanded out to five and one-half miles away from the facility boundary to the northeast side of the plant. On the west of the plant site, private well sampling has extended up to 1.8 miles, according to Scott. On the southwest side of the plant site, private well sampling has extended up to 3.9 miles and to the east side of the plant site, private well sampling has extended to 2.6 miles, according to Scott.
“We have not finished private well sampling, There are areas that still need to be assessed,” said Scott.
He added there is a private well in Robeson County that has exceeded the 140 parts per trillion health recommendation for GenX; Scott said that the area still needs to be assessed.
He said the number of private wells that have been tested now stands at 823. Of those, 164 private wells exceed the recommended 140 parts per trillion health recommendation for GenX. Of the 823 wells tested, there were 220 wells which had no GenX detected in them and 439 wells are not above the State’s recommended health goal of 140 parts per trillion for GenX.
Scott said residents have received a letter from Chemours offering them a Granular Activated Carbon filtration system for their home if their well was at or above 140 parts per trillion of GenX. The GAC system is normally installed outside the home in a shed, and there is a smaller system that can be installed underneath the home.
“Chemours asked for approval to install these systems from the State Department of Environmental Quality earlier this year. We simply told them there was not enough data on the effectiveness of these systems to make an informed decision,” said Scott.
He said that led to the start of a pilot program involving six residences. Scott said the goal of the pilot program is to determine the effectiveness of the GAC system at removing GenX and other PFA compounds. The pilot will also assist in determining how often the filters will need to be changed.
The GAC systems used in the pilot study has three points — the raw or untreated water entering the system; the midpoint, which is after the water has passed through the first filter, and at the post-filtration point after the water has completed the entire filtering process.
Scott said the numbers being reported on the pilot systems appear promising, and DEQ is continuing to sample and monitor the pilot GAC systems to gather more data on maintenance, monitoring schedules and breakthrough. Breakthrough is defined as the point at which PFAs begin to show at the midpoint indicating the filters need to be changed, said Scott.
Sample results from the pilot program can be found at https://deq.nc.gov/news/hot-topics/genx-investigation/groundwater.
Officials also said they are working to create a draft air emissions permit for Chemours by October. There will be a public comment period scheduled later on this year and following the comment period, the State will make a decision on the permit.
Michael Waters, who is participating in the GAC pilot program, shared his thoughts. He asked the panel why State officials do not create a regulatory amendment. He said the State has the authority to take action on the matter.
Tony Bud, who resides near Camp Dixie, expressed his concerns about the scrubber system on the stacks at Chemours and what the facility does with the debris removed from the scrubbers when they clean them.
“Those scrubbers they’ve got over there, they are clogging up every three days. They are shutting them down and cleaning them,” said Bud.
Officials responded that initially there were issues with the scrubbers, but those issues have been corrected.
There were also complaints that residents were not getting adequate amounts of water or no water at all.
Bladen County Commissioner Chairman, Ray Britt, also spoke.
“I know we are a rural poor county, and we have limited funds,” said Britt.
He said that Chemours does $5.4 billion in business each year. Britt reminded those in attendance that State officials are in control of the situation, not the County Commissioners. He added the County does not issue permits for companies like Chemours to operate, but rather that is the jurisdiction of the State.
“I will ask them this right now, for you people that don’t have water; I don’t know what kind of power I’ve got. I will assure this, I believe that tomorrow morning when I make a phone call you will get some water,” said Britt.
Britt asked the panel that when they consider fines and penalties for Chemours, to consider adding the costs to run water lines to the residents who are desperately in need.
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