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WATER FAQs: What we know and what we don't know - News - Wilmington Star News... Page 1 of 4
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WATER FAQs: What we know and what we don't know
By StarNews staff
Posted Jun 8, 2017 at 6:00 AM
Updated Jun 8, 2017 at 3:35 PM
A chemical replacement for a key ingredient in Teflon linked to cancer and a host of other
ailments has been found in the drinking water system of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority
(CFPUA), which cannot filter it. Here's what we know and what we don't know but are
working to get the answers for. You may want to bookmark this. We will post here as answers
become available.
What exactly is Genx? GenX was introduced by DuPont to replace PFOA, commonly called
C8. DuPont began offering GenX to its customers in 2009, after being granted a consent order
from the EPA. The company describes GenX as being easier for humans to eliminate than
PFOA and with a "favorable toxicological profile," a term that describes its toxicity and adverse
health effects. Researchers, however, say the few health studies available on GenX appear to
come only from DuPont and Chemours and include findings they say point to the potential for
risks similar to those posed by C8.
What is C8? This is the name commonly used for PFOA, which stands for perfluorooctanoic
acid. PFOA was used in the manufacture of many products, including DuPont's Teflon.
Documents obtained from DuPont as part of legal actions in the late 1990s and early 2000s
revealed that the company had known about possible health risks from exposure to PFOA for
several years, information not shared with the public or government regulators. Such
undisclosed information contributed in 2005 to a then -record $10.25 million civil
administrative penalty against DuPont by the EPA, which cited "multiple failures to report
information to EPA about substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment that
DuPont obtained about PFOA from as early as 1981 and as recently as 2004." PFOA embroiled
DuPont in multiple lawsuits, including a class-action suit involving C8 contamination in the
mid -Ohio Valley. DuPont and Chemours settled the suit in February a $670.7 million.
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How much GenX is in the water? In 2013-14, researchers measuring for the compound
found 631 parts per trillion -- or 631 drops per every 10 Olympic swimming pools of water --
at CFPUA's water intake in the Cape Fear River. That is more than nine times the EPA's
recommended 70 parts per trillion advisory amount for C8, GenX's predecessor.
Exactly what areas are affected? Cape Fear Public Utility Authority says the Cape Fear
River accounts for about 80 percent of the water it treats and distributes. The largest area is
served by river water passing through CFPUA's Sweeney Treatment Plant and includes all of
Wilmington, Monkey Junction, Wrightsboro, portions of Ogden and Flemington, a small
community just off U.S. 421. A reporter has requested CFPUA provide us with more specific
boundaries. We will report that as soon as it is available.
Is anybody doing anything about this? Officials at the N.C. Department of Environmental
Quality, charged with regulating pollutants released by manufacturers such as Chemours, said
last week said the agency has seen the studies and plans to meet with one of the researchers,
Detlef Knappe, a professor at N.C. State University, this month before deciding how to
proceed. "Obviously, we need to look into it ourselves," said Julie Grzyb, the department's
supervisor for complex permitting. "Unfortunately, with these unregulated contaminants, we
have one hitting us after another and we're trying to deal with it."
The EPA, in response to emailed questions, wrote: "In its review of the GenX premanufacture
submission (for approval to make it), EPA determined that the chemical could be
commercialized if there were no releases to water." The agency has yet to respond to reporter's
questions about what it intends to do now that testing has shown GenX to be in the water. We
will keep asking.
Late Wednesday, CFPUA issued a Civic Alert on its website: "CFPUA is aware of the N.C.
State study concerning unregulated contaminants in the Cape Fear River. We take our
responsibility to provide clean drinking water very seriously, and we reasonably expect private
dischargers to behave responsibly and regulatory agencies to provide proper guidance and
oversight. Since the State of North Carolina and EPA establish the drinking water standards
we follow, we will be looking to them to determine whether this currently unregulated
contaminant should be regulated in our source water. As a local water utility, we look forward
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to supporting the state and EPA in ensuring our customers continue to enjoy safe and reliable
drinking water. In the meantime, CFPUA continues to meet all state and federal drinking
water standards for safety."
What about water I use to take a shower or put through my coffee machine? The
StarNews has asked this question of multiple state and federal agencies, as well as researchers,
and is awaiting replies. The Mid -Ohio Valley Health Department, where GenKs predecessor,
C8, was the focus of a S670.7-million class-action lawsuit settlement, warns residents not to
use tap water in food preparation; ice machines; drink machines, such as coffee and tea makers;
fruit and vegetable misters in retail stores; drinking fountains; teeth -brushing; and the washing
of fruits and vegetables.
How could this impact the wildlife that drinks from the water or fish that live in it?
The StarNews has asked the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission if it has ever investigated
how GenX or C8, its predecessor, impacts either animals or fish or were aware of research that
had done similar work. The StarNews will report this information as soon as it becomes
available.
Can I do something personally to get it out of my water? Reverse -osmosis filtration
systems, including ones available for household use, may be effective in removing it.
I live in Brunswick County. Should I be worried? CFPUA is the only water system tested,
but Detlef Knappe, the N.C. State professor and one of the researchers who traced the toxin
from Fayetteville to Wilmington, said he expects that GenX is also present in the Northwest
Water Treatment in Brunswick and Pender County systems that receive water from the
Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.
Brunswick County Public Utilities, whose main source of water is the Cape Fear River,
supplies water to the entire county, all of its municipalities and H2GO.
The Cape Fear River is the water source for Brunswick's Northwest Water Treatment Plant.
Usage totals about 11 million gallons daily from the Northwest plant and another two to three
million gallons are derived from the county's groundwater plant.
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John Nichols, the county's director of public utilities, said the county is waiting for guidance
from the Environmental Protection Agency and the N.C. Department of Environmental
Quality on how to proceed.
"We may investigate if there is anything we could do at this point, but we haven't had an
opportunity to look into that yet," Nichols said. "But, ultimately, what needs to happen is for
there to be guidance on it from the EPA and NCDEQ."
Glenn Walker, the county's water resources manager, said he had not heard of the GenX
chemical, though he was familiar with "very serious chemicals" coming from the Chemours
facility and has tested county water for compounds through EPA programs for unregulated
contaminant monitoring.
According to testing done a couple years ago, the highest compound concentration at the
Northwest plant was perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) at 23 nanograms per liter and the
lowest was C8 at 10 nanograms per liter.
A county news release states that "water from BCPU meets all EPA and state standards
regarding water quality, including monitoring for the presence and concentration of dozens of
different chemicals and substances."
Why isn't the company that makes GenX doing something about it getting into the
water? "There's no obligation (for Chemours) to inform a utility like Wilmington and tell
them, `You may find this new chemical in your water,' ' researcher Detlef Knappe said. "So
since this chemical is new and isn't regulated, it isn't communicated to a public utility that the
upstream discharge may contain this chemical."
In a statement provided to the StarNews, Chemours wrote that it has a "manufacturing control
system to minimize the potential for environmental releases and resulting exposures."
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