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Sanford’s wastewater treatment plant legally discharges high levels of PFAS. Public can chime in on whether to strengthen its permit.
In an area already burdened by toxic chemicals in their drinking water, residents, environmental advocates and public water systems are asking state regulators to strengthen requirements for Sanford’s wastewater treatment plant – especially for discharges of toxic PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane. The City of Sanford has applied to the NC Department of Environmental Quality to renew […]
Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: Sure I’ll compost; now you give up your private jet
Kylie Jenner, 24, looked at her partner, Travis Scott, also rich and famous, and asked innocently, “You want to take mine or yours?” Cue hair on fire. Because Kylie wasn’t talking about a car; she was asking which private jet they should take: his or hers. The Twitter outrage, fueled by a scrumptious story in […]
Durham businessman: Let’s make billionaires pay taxes the way the rest of us do
Rising inflation and the escalating cost of everything from gas to houses made Tax Day 2022 even more significant for many Americans this year. Rising economic anxiety collided with middle class tax bills as families worried about the future and made plans to tighten their belts. The nation’s 700 billionaires face no such worries, however. […]
Discharged from Greensboro, toxic chemical 1,4-Dioxane has arrived downstream, contaminating Pittsboro’s drinking water
Levels of 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen, have increased in Pittsboro’s drinking water over the past week, as an illegal discharge makes its way downstream, according to town officials. The release came from Greensboro’s TZ Osborne wastewater treatment plant on April 5. The plant discharges into South Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Haw River, which […]
Greensboro releases yet another slug of 1,4-Dioxane into Haw River, Pittsboro’s drinking water supply
Update Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m.: Cory Saulsbury, superintendent of Pittsboro’s water plant told Policy Watch that sampling from from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8 showed levels of 1, 4-Dioxane at 1.07 ppb. Saulsbury said the town will “continue to monitor the situation by pulling samples every day this week with a rush order.” Greensboro’s wastewater treatment […]
New report: CEO pay has reached truly absurd and unjust levels
A new report from researchers Lawrence Mishel and Jori Kandra the Economic Policy Institute has the latest disturbing news about the way our nation continues to allow a narrow class of plutocrats to make off with a vast portion of its wealth. The report finds that, even compared to the other members of the top […]
Pittsboro hit with another dose of 1,4-Dioxane from Greensboro
This story has been corrected. Greensboro told Policy Watch today that they do not believe Shamrock Environmental is the source of the contamination. The data provided by the Town of Pittsboro did not account for dilution factors in Greensboro. Pittsboro’s drinking water took another hit of 1,4-Dioxane last week, which the town attributes to an […]
Pittsboro announces drinking water results after 1,4-Dioxane spill in Greensboro
Levels of 1,4-Dioxane in finished, or treated, drinking water in Pittsboro are below the EPA and North Carolina’s drinking water health advisory level, but much higher than stricter advisory goals for surface water. The Town of Pittsboro released the results today, based on sampling from July 1 through July 6, shortly after Greensboro illegally discharged […]
Stock wealth boomed during pandemic for wealthiest 1%
For people who derive most of their wealth from stock equity, it has been a very good financial year. In turn, massive stock market gains in the middle of a global pandemic have widened inequality along both wealth and racial lines. Although the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on job loss and wage fluctuation have […]
Public hearing, comment period announced for consent order with Greensboro over 1,4-Dioxane
The NC Department of Environmental Quality will hold a remote public hearing next month about a Special Order of Consent to correct the City of Greensboro’s illegal discharges of 1,4-Dioxane into the downstream drinking water supply. Because of the level of public interest, the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9, on a proposed Special Order by Consent […]
Burlington, Haw River Assembly reach agreement on PFAS contamination; Pittsboro blood results to be released tomorrow
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Haw River Assembly, finalized a memorandum of agreement with the City of Burlington in which the city agreed to investigate the sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals and 1,4-Dioxane in the city’s wastewater discharges. “This agreement and investigation takes us one step closer to making […]
PFAS in garden compost: Comment now on proposed rules on how much, if any, contaminants this material should contain.
Compost is supposed to enrich your garden soil for a healthy summer bounty: tomatoes, peppers, green beans and melons. But some compost used on gardens and farms in North Carolina — and nationwide — contains perfluorinated compounds, or PFAS. The state’s compost rules are up for re-adoption, but they don’t require compost — or the materials used to […]