By Erin Smith
After state officials learned groundwater test wells located on the grounds of the Chemours plant Fayetteville Works facility were contaminated with the chemical GenX, a Notice of Violation was sent to the company. The Notice of Violation was issued to the company on Wednesday.
The plant is currently under investigation by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services after the chemical GenX was found in the Cape Fear River. Water samples were taken from the river and from groundwater test wells on site at the plant this summer. Preliminary test results show 13 of the 14 groundwater test wells to be contaminated with GenX.
Bladen County Health and Human Services Director David Howard said now that the groundwater test wells are known to be contaminated with GenX, a perimeter around the plant will be established and groundwater wells of residents within the perimeter will be tested for GenX.
“The way it works is the permittee, which is Chemours, will be responsible for that (testing the residential wells),” said Howard.
Bladen County General Services Manager Kip McClary said the county will be discussing the new findings at the Chemours plant with state officials. The Bladen County Water District issued a statement in June 2017 stating arrangements were being made for the county’s wells to be tested for GenX.
Read the public notice here. To date, the testing has not occurred as county officials said they were waiting for a recommendation from the state on which laboratory to utilize for testing.
McClary explained in 2015 Bladen County’s wells were tested for some of the compounds used at Chemours before GenX. He said all of the county’s wells tested negative for those compounds.
In recent testing at the Chemours site, not only was GenX present, but laboratory testing showed the presence of other compounds including Nafion. The state was recently notified by the Environmental Protection Agency of its findings on water samples gathered from the Cape Fear River. The state notification reported GenX being discharged into the river along with Nafion. According to a release, little is known about the effects of Nafion byproducts on human health.
The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office has also filed a lawsuit against Chemours. A legal summons was issued to the company on Tuesday ordering Chemours to stop releasing “all fluorinated compounds” into the river. In further action, the state has said it will suspend the company’s permit for discharging wastewater into the river. According to reports, Chemours permits are being suspended due to the fact the company did not fully disclose the release of GenX into the river. Read the Intent to Suspend letter here.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has called for the company to stop discharging GenX, Nafion byproducts and their related chemicals into the river no later than Friday, Sept. 8.
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