DEQ-CFW_00053021

July 17, 2017
E. Scott Pruitt
Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency
1JOOPennsylvania Ave,NVV
Washington, DC2O46O
Dear Administrator Pruitt:
North Carolina residents need immediate help and long-term certainty about the safety of the water
they drink. I write seeking your urgent action to get us answers and solutions.
When we turn on the tap to get a drink, cook a meal for our family, or run a bath for our children, we
count on that water to be safe. North Carolina must have your help to make sure the water is safe for
millions of our families.
At my direction, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) along with the NC Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS) launched an investigation June 14 into the presence of the
unregulated chemical GenX in the Cape Fear River, the primary source of drinking water for Pender,
B|aden, New Hanover and Brunswick counties in North Carolina. This compound entered the river as
wastewater discharge at a Chemours manufacturing facility near Fayetteville. Following requests fnom
my administration, local leaders and area residents, Chemours stopped discharging GenXvvhi|e the state
investigation isunderway.
The good news isthat rigorous water sampling conducted bystate scientists shows that levels ofGenX
in the water supply have decreased dramatically since we succeeded at getting Chemours to cease its
discharge. However, many questions remain about potential health effects caused by exposure tuthis
and other emerging contaminants, and we know that only your agency can give certainty about the
effects of these contaminants on public health.
The troubling problem of unregulated, relatively unknown chemicals in the public water supply is
nationwide and cannot be solved by our state alone. I appreciate the assistance the EPA has provided
thus far to scientists with DEQ and DHHS working on our GenX investigation, but we need the EPA to
move more quickly to finalize its health assessment of GenX and set a maximum contaminant level for it.
These are critical steps that must take place in order for North Carolina to be able to require Chemours
tolimit oreliminate discharge ofGenX.
The EPA already has an order in place to control some GenX emissions that should be expanded to hold
Chemoursaccountable for any discharge ofGenX.Aayou may know, EPA concerns that 6enXcould be
toxic led the agency to seek a 2009 consent order limiting Chemours' emissions from GenX production.
However, Chemours has stated publicly that it does not believe this order governs discharge of the same
chemical when it is a byproduct of other chemical processes. I ask that the EPA revisit this consent order
immediately and modify it to apply to GenX released through the discharge as well as the manufacturing
process.
North Carolina and its people rely on the EPA to ensure chemicals are manufactured in a way that
protects our air, our water and our health. Under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the EPA
OEQ-CFVV_00053021

bears the sole responsibility for regulating the introduction ofnew chemicals. | urge you to use EPA
authority under the TSCA to evaluate byproducts from other Chemours production lines, including
wastewater discharge.
I also ask that you require companies to submit not just one but multiple health studies covering several
exposure methods when registering chemicals under TSCA. This will increase the public's understanding
of chemical compounds introduced into our waterways. These safeguards are more important than
ever as North Carolina and other states confront the presence of unregulated, emerging contaminants
in our water.
Administrator Pruitt, at your confirmation in January, you said, "What could be more important than
protecting our Nation's waters, improving our air, and managing the land that we have been blessed
with as a Nation, all the while protecting the health and welfare of our people?" The water, health and
welfare of the people of North Carolina require your protection now from unregulated emerging
contaminants like GenX.
I thank you for the support that your agency are providing to North Carolina, and look forward to your