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NC fire departments stuck with 120,000 gallons of toxic foam; legislation has funds to buy it back
Fire departments across North Carolina have on hand more than 120,000 gallons of firefighting foam that contains toxic PFAS, according to state data, and have used it 51 times to extinguish blazes in eight months. For decades, PFAS-containing foam, known as AFFF, has been used to suppress fires involving petroleum products or other flammable liquids. […]
Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount
WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024. The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]
PFAS-contaminated foam found at Caswell Beach, Oak Island
The Ocean Crest Pier on Oak Island is a premier spot for saltwater fishing, where the sea teems with flounder and cobia, pompano and king mackerel. This past spring, Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, spotted not fish, but odd foam that looked like mounds of Redi-Wip, amassing on the beach. She partnered with […]
PFAS-contaminated foam found in Falls Lake, Neuse River
Latest state data show 15 locations across NC in which PFAS have been detected in foam or nearby surface water First it appeared in Gray’s Creek in southern Cumberland County. Then it showed up in a private driveway on Marshwood Lake Road near the Bladen-Cumberland County line. In the Georgia Branch that feeds the Cape Fear […]
Mystery foam in Cumberland County contains high levels of PFAS, investigation ongoing
This article has been corrected to say that neither Chemours nor DuPont produced PFOS at the Fayetteville Works plant. High levels of toxic PFAS – perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl compounds – have been detected in a stream, as well as in foam that had accumulated in small pond in Cumberland County, about seven miles from the […]
After passing the House, bill regulating PFAS in firefighting foam lingers in Senate
Lawmakers dedicated to eradicating “forever chemicals” from water supplies across the state filed three bills this session that would more stringently regulate PFAS, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Only one has made it out of committee and has a chance of becoming law. While the larger, sweeping bills were aspirational, legislation regulating toxic […]
Newsline special report: A community inundated with industrial waste
[Editor’s note: This story on water pollution is among several that NC Newsline is publishing about environmental justice issues and cumulative pollution impacts in Robeson County. Read previous stories in the series about biogas projects near Paxton and a proposed private military training site a few miles from Rowland. Look for more stories about air […]
DEQ again draws short straw in Senate version of budget
The NC Department of Environmental Quality would take an $8 million hit in the Senate version of the state budget, released yesterday, compared with proposed appropriations in the House version. And the 38 additional full-time positions recommended by the House would be cut to just eight by the Senate. DEQ budget Senate […]
Weekend reads: Targeting tenure, transgender sports, and ‘significant strides’ recovering from pandemic learning loss
In this issue: 1. New bill targets tenure, calls for scrutiny of research at UNC System campuses, community colleges Faculty tenure at UNC System universities and community colleges would end under a new bill filed Tuesday. House Bill 715 would “prospectively eliminate academic tenure and establish uniform contracting procedure for faculty at constituent institutions and […]
Key questions unanswered as Smithfield Foods unveils new plan to capture hog farm methane
Giant pork producer asks Northamption County officials to sign off on proposal that would transport gas to Virginia, but declines to disclose key details
Smithfield Foods and its affiliate Cardinal Bio-Energy plan to build two large swine gas projects in Northampton County and inject the gas into the Transco Pipeline, which will carry it out of the state and into Virginia.
EPA proposes new rule to crack down on PFAS, forever chemicals in our water
The EPA today announced its proposed maximum contaminant levels — MCLs — for six types of toxic PFAS in drinking water and acknowledged that no amount of these compounds is safe. “EPA anticipates if fully implemented the rule will prevent tens of thousands of serious PFAS-attributable illnesses or deaths,” the agency wrote in a slide […]
In lawsuit against the EPA, North Carolina environmental, public health groups get their day in court over PFAS dispute
Every day for more than 10 years, Richard Myers II unknowingly drank water contaminated with toxic PFAS. In the 1980s and ‘90s, when Myers was a student at UNC-Wilmington, DuPont – later spun off as Chemours – was pumping those chemical compounds into the Cape Fear River. From there, PFAS entered Wilmington’s drinking water supply and flowed from the taps of hundreds of thousands of people, including Myers.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan announces $2 billion for small water systems to address PFAS contamination, $62 million for NC
The water tower is the tallest structure in Maysville, a landmark to nudge visitors from US Highway 17 to Main Street, the heart of this small Jones County town. More than 70,000 gallons of water flowed each day from the tower, when four years ago, Lee Ferguson sampled the drinking water. “We were caught off […]
Pittsboro sues 20 companies, including 3M, Chemours, DuPont over PFAS contamination in town drinking water
The Town of Pittsboro has sued more than 20 companies, including Chemours, DuPont and 3M, BASF and several other manufacturers of PFAS, for allegedly polluting its water supply with the toxic compounds. The lawsuit was filed yesterday in Chatham County Superior Court. It asks the court to force the companies to reimburse the town for […]
3M to stop making ‘forever chemicals’
3M announced Tuesday that it will stop manufacturing a group of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and work to stop using the chemicals in its products by the end of 2025. The company nets about $1.3 billion annually from the chemical sales — a fraction of its overall revenue, at 3.7%. 3M has […]
Hog farm that used dead pigs, spoiled meat as fuel for biogas digester fined $34K
Millions of gallons of feces, liquified hogs and old meat illegally discharged from a lagoon into wetlands and the Nahunta Swamp. Levels of ammonia in the groundwater at more than 17 times legal limits. Failure to monitor or provide reports for fecal coliform, as well as for operation and maintenance. These are just three […]