Senior officials with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality have directed Chemours to provide bottled water to nine more well owners near the company’s Fayetteville facility after the most recent preliminary test results show GenX above the provisional state health goal in residential drinking wells.
This brings to 35 the number of residential well owners living near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works facility who are receiving bottled water because of GenX detections above the state health goal of 140 parts per trillion. The state Department of Environmental Quality and Chemours have sampled 105 residential wells since testing near the facility began in September. DEQ is sending all well owners well testing results and health and other information based on the results.
DEQ officials are working on longer-term water solutions for residents with affected wells, most of whom live north of the facility. Among the possibilities are installing home water filter systems or connecting affected homes to an uncontaminated well source or a nearby public water supply.
“We all count on having access to a clean, reliable source of drinking water and these well owners deserve no less,” said Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. “Bottled water is a short-term fix and we’re working with the counties and the company to find a long-term solution for families who rely on these wells.”
DEQ launched its testing of residential wells near Chemours’ facility in September after the agency discovered GenX in non-drinking wells at the facility.
In addition to testing residential wells, DEQ officials announced they will soon start conducting water tests at other locations frequently used by residents in the community near Chemours. Those locations include Marshwood Lake, Point East Lake, Alderman Elementary School, Gray’s Creek Elementary School, Gray’s Creek High School and water fountains at a ballfield north of Marshwood Lake. Results of those tests will be provided to the public when completed.
DEQ is testing for GenX and two other fluorinated compounds, PFOA and PFOS – all of which have established health goals. Chemours is testing for GenX. The company has expanded its testing of residential drinking water wells near the facility for GenX to include wells one mile from the property’s boundary. DEQ and Chemours are testing some of the same wells.
More information about the state’s ongoing testing and investigation of fluorinated compounds can be found at: https://deq.nc.gov/news/hot-topics/genx-investigation.