DEQ-CFW_00077933

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Subject: Toxin taints CFPUAdrinking water Wilmington Star News

a
oxin taints CFPUA drinking
water
.11,111,111,11, ...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Utility can't filter out chemical produced upri-ver at Fayetteville plant
By Vaughn Hagerty StarNews Correspondent
WILMINGTON -- 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.
Known commercially as GenX, the contaminating compound is made by the Chemours Co. at
Fayetteville Works, a 2,150-acre industrial site straddling the Cumberland-Bladen county line
along the Cape Fear River, about loo miles upstream from Wilmington.
Other water systems that tap the Cape Fear, including some that serve portions of Brunswick,
and fender: counties, likely have GenX present as well -- though only CFPUA has been tested.
"My estimate is that about 250,000 people are affected in the three counties," said Detlef
Knappe, a professor at N.C. State University and one of the researchers who traced the toxin
from Favetteville to Wilmington.
Chemours and DuPont,'"Thich formed Chemours in 2015 from business units including the
GenX manufacturer, have produced GenX since 2009.That was four years after DuPont
agreed to phase out a chemical called C8 and paid. a $16.5 million U.S. EPA fine and
settlement for failing to release studies showing C8 may cause health problems. In February,
the companies settled a class-action lawsuit involving C8 water contamination in the mid -
Ohio Valley for $670.7 million.
In 2012, a research team detected Gen X in the Cape Fear downriver from Fayetteville
Works. Other teams found it again in 201:3-14 and as recently as last December. Results of
river water samples drawn last month are pending. Upriver from Fayetteville Works, none
was found.
In a statement provided this week, Chemours officials said they are aware of the studies and
that "additional water emissions abatement technology" was added to the Fayetteville Works
plant in November 2013. That installation occurred more than three years prior to the latest
confirmed discovery of Gen X in the Cape Fear downstream from the plant. The company did
not provide details on the abatement technology.
"Chemours is aware of the research reports on the -Cape Fear River Watershed sampling, done
between 2012 and December 2013. Additional water emissions abatement technology was completeil
and added to our Fayetteville operations site in November, 2013. Our polymerization processing aid,
sometimes referred to as GenX, has been well characterized and undergone extensive safety
DEQ-CFW-00077934

-- Chemours statement on GenX
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs): Also known as fluorochemicals, this group of man-made
compounds, including GenX and C8/PFOA, has been used for decades in a wide range of industrial process
2.nd consumer products -- including Teflon, Scotchgard and some cosmetics. That ubiquity, along with the
substances' tendency to resist decomposition in the environment and elimination from the body, has sparked
health concerns. I
CMPFOA: PFOA stands for perfluorooctanoic acid. Commonly called C8 because it has eight carbon atoms,
PFOA was used in the manufacture of many products and is most commonly associated with DuPont's Teflon.
GenX: The product introduced by DuPont to replace PFOA. 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.
Parts -per -billion: Often described as micrograms per liter, one part per billion is equivalent to less than
teaspoon of water in an Olympic -size swimming pool.
Health advisory: According to the EPA, "health advisories provide information on contaminants that can
cause human health effects and are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water. EPA's health advisories
are non -enforceable and non -regulatory and provide technical information to states agencies and other public
health officials on health effects, analytical methodologies, and treatment technologies associated with drinking
water contamination."
The Chemours Co.: Firm formed in 2015 from DuPont's "Performance Chemicals" division. Chemours is the
official owner of the Fayetteville Works site, where GenX is made.
Fayetteville Works: A 2,150-acre manufacturing site along the Cape Fear River on the Bladen-Cumberland
county line. Three companies have operations there -- Chemours, DuPont and Kuraray America.
The 2013-14 tests included sampling at various points in the water cleaning process at
CFPUA's Sweenev Water Treatment Plant in Wilmington. At each step, researchers found
GenX, along with a number of substances related to C8 and GenX but about which scientists
know little aside from chemical structure. In some cases, these "novel" substances were seen
at concentrations far exceeding that observed for GenX.
DEQ-CFW-00077935

They continued to find Gen X and the "novel" substances at the end of the treatment line,
where freshly treated drinking water enters pipes feeding faucets throughout New Hanover
County.
"Basically, there is no change in concentration as you go from raw to the finished water," said
Knappe,'who teaches in the department of civil, construction and. environmental engineering
at N.C. State and was one the 2013-14 researchers. "I'd be very surprised if something major
has changed. between December and now."
Knappe said CFPUA was the only water system tested, but he expected GenX also would be
present in the Northwest Water Treatment in Brunswick and gender County systems that
receive water from the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority.
1,rire, to deal with it'
Frank Styers, chief operations officer of CFPUA, last week said the utility is aware of the most
recent study and its findings.
"We think these type of studies are important and often lead to better regulation at the state
and federal level lie said. "Our drinking water continues to meet all state and federal
drinking water standards. We would support proper regulation to improve water quality in
the river or prevent compounds such as this from being discharged in the river."
The Cape Fear River accounts for about 8o percent of the water treated and distributed by
CFPUA, St-vers said. The remainder comes from groundwater. The utility has three systems
that operate independently but can be combined,,,vhen needed, such as in an emergency. The
largest area is serxed by river water passing through the Sweeney plant and includes all of
Wilmington, Monkey Junction, Wrightsboro, portions of Ogden and Flemin.,gon, a small
community just off U.S. 42i.. Gen X has not been found in groundwater.
About 2001000 people rely on CFPUA for drinking water.
Officials at the X. Departm.ent of Environmental. Quin ivy (NCDEQ), charged with
regulating pollutants released by manufacturers such as Chemours, last week said the agency
has seen the studies and plans to meet Frith Knappe 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 spokeswoman said the EPA would "check on this" when it was pointed. out that the
studies showed GenX was found in both the Cape Fear and CFPUA. water. No response had
been received by Wednesday.
DEQ-CFW-00077936

Chemours, in its statement, wrote that it "is aware of the research reports on the Cape Fear
River watershed sampling done between 2012 and December 2013. Additional water
emissions abatement technology,- was completed and added to our Fayetteville operations site
in November 2013.
"Our polymerization processing aid, sometimes referred to as GenX, has been well
characterized and undergone extensive safety evaluations," the statement continued. "In
addition, regulatory agencies required substantial data to be developed on the alternative
chemistries that have been introduced. This data shows that the polymerization processing
aid offers a favorable toxicological profile and very rapid bioelimination, combined with a
manufacturing control system to minimize the potential for environmental releases and
resulting exposures.
Themours continues to work collaboratively with all state and federal regulatory agencies,
and we are committed to reducing our en-vironmental footprint and minimizing any potential
risks to our employees and the communities in which we operate."
No standards for GenX
Research has linked C8, the chemical GenX replaced, to risks for kidney and testicular cancel',
liver damage and a number of other potentially serious health problems. Similar data for
GenX is scarce, but the little that exists has some researchers concerned it may pose at least
some of the same problems.
"I drink the water," Styers said. "I think that determination (regarding health risks) would
better be made by state and federal regulators. These constituents (such as GenX) are not
regulated. The EPA does have a process for evaluating emerging contaminants that is
effective."
A fundamental challenge facing regulators is that no standards exist to set thresholds at,"71-iich
concentrations of GenX in drinking water are safe -- mainly because the chemical is relatively
new and few studies on health effects are available.
EPA has established ,,diat it calls a "lifetfine healtli adiisory" for C8 in drinking water of
70 parts per trillion. The advisory is chiefly informational and not legally enforceable. C8 is
also known generically as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
The average concentration of GenX measured at CFPUA's water intake on the Cape Fear in
2013-14 was 631 parts per trillion -- nine times the EPA advisory level for C8. Even so, that
consideration would not trigger action on the part of state or federal regulators.
"The problem with these situations is these chemicals are emerging contaminants. We know
they're in the water. We don't always know at what levels they are problematic or unsafe," said
Connie Brower, an industrial hygiene consultant at NCDEQs water resources division. "There
are very few studies on the toxicity of the chemical and very- little to go on to help us
understand what level would be problematic."
State regulation of substances such as GenX typically means following the lead of EPA,
Brower said. Standards for substances such as GenX take several years to establish. So for
now, at least, there appears to be essentially no lead to follow.
DEQ-CFW-00077937

"EPA has conducted monitoring in the Cape Fear River Watershed for perfluorinated
compounds (a term for a large group of chemicals that includes C8 and GenX)," the EPA
spokeswoman who provided responses wrote. "At this time, EPA Region 4 (which includes
North Carolina) cannot advise on GenX compounds since the EPA does not have a drinking
water ad-kisony for these compounds."
'Nobody would know'
The lack of standards also means that the contamination from Gen X and the "novel"
substances in the CFPUA system and the Cape Fear likely would have gone undetected for
some time if the tern that included Knappe had not tested the water.
"There is essentially no literature on this ether compound (GenX) or on the other ether
compounds," Knappe said.
Commercial labs in the United States currently are unable to test for GenX, Knappe said, so
CFPUA- cannot monitor the system's water for Caen X on its own.
"There's no obligation (for Chemours) to inform a utility like Wilmington and tell them, 'You
may find this new chemical in your water," 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. Without our work, basically nobody would know that this chemical is
actually in the water."
Reverse osmosis -- including as part of a household water -filtration system — might be
effective at filtering Gee X and the other compounds from the water, Knappe said.. But for a
municipal system such as CFPUA, such a step would cost millions of dollars to install and
maintain and take years to accomplish. Instead, he insisted., Chemours should address the
problem itself.
"I think the question that really should be asked is: Why should any utility have to deal with
this in the first place? No drinking water provider should have to deal with this kind of a
challenge if it can be dealt with at the source," Knappe said.
'Suspected human carcinogen'
To evaluate whether GenX is a safe alternative to C8, regulators consider a number of factors,
including: the pace at which the body rids itself of the substance, the sorts of harm may it
cause and how quickly it degrades in the environment.
On elimination from the body, researchers appear to agree with Chemours' contention that, in
general, humans get rid of GenX much more quickly -- 3.5 years for C8 versus days for GenX.
Ailments potentially linked to C8 include kidney and. testicular cancer, harm to fetuses and.
pregnant women, liver damage, a digestive tract inflainination called ulcerative cholitis and
high cholesterol. Researchers said they are less certain about the health safety of GenX -- in
large part because the few studies available seem to show it may contribute to some of the
same issues tied. to C8.
DEQ-CFW-00077938

"GenX is indeed eliminated faster than C8 ' /PFOA in rats and mice. However, human evidence
is inissing so we do not know if this will still hold," said Xindi Hu, a doctoral student at
Han7ard University Chan School and Environmental Science and Engineering and lead author
of a niajo�r study on fluorochemicals in drinking water. "In terms of toxicity, the evidence of
Gen X is very scarce."
A study by the National institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands,
where Chemours has a plant in Dordecht, analyzed. the available studies and. concluded that
"classification as a Category 2 carcinogen (a suspected human carcinogen) is justified " for
GenX.
The last consideration -- persistence in the environment -- has been a major point of concern
about C8 and other fluorocheinicals, which tend to resist breaking down. While (yen X is likely
to persist in the environment like C8, N.C. State's Knappe said that, unlike C8, GenX likely
would be flushed fairly quickly froin the Cape Fear and affected water systems once it no
longer gets into the river from the Fayetteville Works.
The EPA, in a 20og document giving the go-ahead for DuPont and Chemours to manufacture
GenX, expressed concerns about its safety, noting that it appeared to exhibit a number of the
same health and environmental risks as C8 and similar compounds.
Teflon and pizza boxes
C8 and Gen X belong to a large group of man-made chemicals known as per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). They also are referred to collectively as fluorochemicals.
Used. since at least the 1950s, fluorochemicals have proven to be invaluable in a variety of
manufacturing processes. They're used to make products ranging from Teflon and Scotchgard
to some popcorn bags and pizza boxes, as well as firefighting foams and electronic
components.
The extensive use, coupled with the tendency of most fluorochemicals to persist in the
environment, also has resulted in widespread dispersion, including in the bodies of most
humans. One study concluded that more than 98 percent of Americans had some form of
fluorochemical in their bloodstreams.
Knappe acknowledged that many people value the products fluorochemicals make possible,
but he rejected the notion that health risks that result are a price worth paying for the benefits
society derives.
"I would completely disagree with that because there's not a direct link between the
convenience of a nonstick pan and having this chemical in the water," he said. "The more
direct connection is how much profit is the company making in the process. If the
fluorochemical manufacturer would spend a very small amount of their budget on treating
their wastewater better, the same benefit could be deri-%,-ed from this chemical, GenX, without
having the additional adverse health risks."
Contact the Metro desk at 910-343-2384 or Breakingn e ws @,StarNewsOn line. coin.
DEQ-CFW-00077939

Jamie Kritzer
Communications Director
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality
4,19-707-8602
ION—MMMOM
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DEQ-CFW-00077940