How will new EPA guidelines on GenX affect Fayetteville area residents?
New federal guidelines for chemicals used at a Bladen County plant will make more than 1,700 homes around the facility eligible for upgraded water filter equipment or connection to public water supplies, state officials say.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a new health advisory for GenX compounds last month. The new guideline sets a lifetime exposure limit of 10 parts per trillion, which state officials say replaces the state’s provisional drinking water goal of 140 parts per trillion.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality estimates that the change will make the additional homes eligible for upgraded water filters or public water. The department, the environmental group Cape Fear River Watch, and the Chemours company agreed to a consent order in February 2019 regarding contamination around the company’s plant and in the nearby Cape Fear River.
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The Chemours facility, which is known as the Fayetteville Works, is in Bladen County, just off N.C. 87 near the Cumberland County line.
The EPA’s advisory applies to hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) and its ammonium salt, which the agency refers to as “GenX chemicals.”
GenX is a trading name for a “patented technology platform,” according to a statement released by Chemours after EPA announced the new guidelines. The company uses HFPO-DA to make four fluoropolymers that “are essential for the production of semiconductors, mobile phones, hospital ventilators, and countless other products,” it said.
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Chemours said in the statement that the EPA assessment contains “numerous, material scientific flaws.” It said that HFPO-DA “does not pose human health or environmental risks when used for its intended purpose.”
The state Department of Environmental Quality sent Chemours a letter on June 15 regarding the new EPA guidelines. The letter to Plant Manager Dawn Hughes said the company has to revise its Drinking Water Compliance Plan and Feasibility Study Report.
The letter also said that by Wednesday, Chemours must submit a report that identifies the additional homes that will get public water or filters that serve the entire house. Before the new guidelines, 245 homes were eligible for that equipment.
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Because of the EPA’s new standards, state officials think that more than 1,700 of the homes that previously were only eligible for equipment that filtered water coming from individual faucets can get filters for all the water coming into the house.
A Chemours spokeswoman released a short statement in response to a request for comment about the letter.
“We have reviewed DEQ’s recent letter and are evaluating our path forward for our offsite well sampling program and drinking water compliance plan,” it said.
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The state has been investigating the Chemours facility since 2017 when a report by the Wilmington StarNews said that researchers had found GenX chemicals and similar compounds in the river. Tests later revealed that thousands of private wells around the plant are contaminated with chemicals.
The GenX compounds are among a family of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they tend to stay in the body.
“GenX chemicals have been linked to health effects on the liver, the kidney, the immune system, and developmental effects, as well as cancer,” the EPA said in a document supporting the new guidelines. The agency also announced stricter standards for three other PFAS compounds.
The state Department of Environmental Quality plans to hold a meeting related to Chemours and GenX on July 26. The meeting will be in the Crown Theatre at 6 p.m. with registration beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Local news editor Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: More than 1,700 homes near Chemours could get upgraded, water filters
