4-Dioxane
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
DEQ finds 20 types of PFAS in compost headed for gardens, farms and playgrounds
Twenty types of perfluorinated compounds, commonly known as PFAS, were detected in compost produced at the McGill facility in Sampson County, but the sources of the contamination have not been identified. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality sampled the compost, as well as wastewater residuals — sludge — from DAK Americas, a plastics manufacturing plant, after […]
What is your compost made of? Use public records to find out.
Read the two-part investigation about how a lack of federal regulations and state oversight allowed 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen, to be trucked in wastewater sludge from DAK America, a plastics plant in Fayetteville, to McGill Environmental, which used the material to make compost. Staking out a McGill Environmental truck was not how I planned to […]
PW special report: Unregulated, untested and unknown
Investigation shows that dangerous chemical was included in materials received by NC composting facility This is the first of a two-part investigation into how the lack of federal regulations and state oversight allowed 1,4-Dioxane, a likely carcinogen and emerging contaminant, to be trucked in wastewater sludge to a North Carolina compost facility. Part 2 runs tomorrow morning.
Bills would crack down on polluters, set “precautionary” standard for PFAS and other emerging compounds
State environmental regulators would be required to set a standard of 10 parts per trillion for perfluorinated compounds, according to Senate Bill 518, introduced on Friday. The “precautionary” 10 ppt trillion standard would be applied to any emerging compound for which there are no federal or state regulations. This would include GenX, 1,4-dioxane and the […]