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Secretary Regan Opening Statement
• I'm Michael Regan, the secretary of the North Carolina Department of
Environmental Quality.
• On behalf of the state of North Carolina, let me begin by saying we all agree
that protecting the quality of your drinking water is the No. 1 priority and
some of our citizens have concerns about the quality of their water.
• What I can tell you is that based on the best available data from sampling in
2013 and 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services has
determined there was a low health risk. associated with exposure to the
compound.
• Based on their evaluation, we believe this to be a low risk situation, but are
not resting on that assumption and must have current data to make sound
decisions.
• At the Governor's direction, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality,
in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, is
leading a state investigation regarding the report of the unregulated
chemical GenX in the Cape Fear River.
• I am seeking answers and solutions to a situation that has prompted
understandable concern among the citizens who live and work in
Wilmington and the lower Cape Fear Region ... some of which are my own
Department of Environmental Quality regional staff and their families.
• Although we are searching for more answers, we are also taking action
immediately...
• First, we have been in frequent contact with the EPA.
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• The United States Environmental Protection Agency is the lead agency
responsible for establishing drinking water standards. They have informed us
that they are working to gather more information on GenX, which is a
compound not regulated under the Clean Water Act or the Safe Drinking
Water Act.
• EPA has told us they are committed to supporting states and public water
systems as next steps are determined. And we are asking the agency to
request all necessary records related to this compound.
• Given the chemical is unregulated, we are also taking a hard look at all
options we have, within our regulatory and legal authority, to reduce or
eliminate the discharge of this chemical as it makes its way to the river ...
until the state completes its investigation.
• We met with the company Chemours earlier this week and they informed
DEQ staff that their engineers are working to assess the waste streams at
the facility in Fayetteville. My department is strongly encouraging Chemours
to voluntarily identify any measures that can be taken to reduce or eliminate
the discharges of the chemical to the river until the state completes its
investigation.
• Chemours estimates they have reduced 80 percent of the chemica
discharge and we are asking for proof of that and the reduction of the final
20 percent.
• Starting as early as next week, we will begin a water collection and testing
regimen in the Cape Fear River. We will be working with a specialized lab in
Colorado capable of analyzing the samples. (NOTE: we have since added
EWs lab in Research Triangle Park)
• We expect to receive sampling supplies from the laboratory this week, or
early next week and our staff is prepared to mobilize as soon as we have.
that equipment.
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• We've developed a sampling plan that will include testing water at:
o Four intakes
o The five water treatment plants (Cape Fear Public Utility Authority,
Pender County, Brunswick County, International Paper, and Smithfield
Packing)
o The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority's Aquifer Storage and Recovery
well, and
o A water supply well used by Wrightsville Beach.
• Chemours has agreed to bear the costs for the water collection and testing,
not the taxpayers.
• We will also be setting up a website to share this information as it comes in.
• We appreciate the partnership with our federal, state and local counterparts
and appreciate the cooperation the company has demonstrated thus far. It
is our goal to help bring clarity to this situation as soon as possible and we
will be vigilant in doing so.
Permit facts
• The permit was issued on Feb. 6, 2012 with an expiration date of Oct. 31,
2016.
• Our agency received a renewal application for the Chemours National
Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit (NC0003573) on May 3, 2016.
• Since the renewal application was received 180 days prior to expiration, the
permit is automatically continued until a new permit is issued.
• We are currently working thru the permit process and will not issue a permit
we are surer it is protective of the stream usage.
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