North Carolina Environmental Regulators at War Over Water Rules for PFAS

"In June, the state found PFAS at an elementary school at levels up to 233 times greater than federal limits. But the N.C. Chamber of Commerce wants to delay regulations."

"The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce has privately leaned on the state’s powerful Environmental Management Commission to delay critical PFAS rules, emails obtained under state public records law show, including providing members with the résumé of a scientist who has downplayed the toxicity of the compounds.

At the same time, a crisis involving these “forever chemicals” emerged in rural Randolph County, where drinking water at an elementary school contained the compounds far above federal limits. The school’s groundwater is contaminated, among the issues the proposed rules are meant to address.

North Carolina became one of the nation’s hotspots for the compounds in 2017, when state regulators discovered chemical company Chemours had been discharging a type called GenX into the Cape Fear River, a major drinking water supply.

More than 300 water systems in North Carolina, serving an estimated 3.4 million people—a third of the state’s population—provide drinking water that contains levels of PFAS above federal limits, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. These include homes, schools, child care centers and mobile home parks."

Lisa Sorg reports for Inside Climate News August 1, 2024.

Source: Inside Climate News, 08/02/2024