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Home My WebLink AboutDEQ-CFW_00080274From: Aknoyd Cathy R[/O=[XCHANGELA8S/OU=EXCHANGEADMINISTRATIVE GROUP (FYD|BOHF2]SPDLT)/CN=REOP|ENTS/CN=D2FDF2DE4BE548IC8FO1C933B5FZCAB9-CRAKROYD] Sent: 7/14/I0I73:5I:47PW1 To: DE[\AUkh=[xchangeLabs/ou=ExchangeAdministrative Group (FYD|8OHFZ33PDO)/cn=Redpient$cn=51]4fbQ45I4841778f4Z24785I5cOefd-DE(} All] Subject: DEDNews Clips: July I4,ZOI7 Chemical found at level 113 times greater than GenX in Capr Fear River Cooper backtracks onwell water campaign promise D6j�vu:Controversy over safe drinking water, coal ash, prompts DBQtoappoint science panel When is water clean enough? Duke Energy's neighbors and the state debate. New water standards near coal ash ponds much higher than original levels New faces join environmental boards More scuffles over hexav|entchromium scuff les-hexavalent-chrom i um/ Nation's largest utility wants customers to pay for coal ash cleanup McCrory says Cooper administration's safety standard tied to coal ash vindicates his actions Additional GENX Discharge at Chemours Facility identified and stopped Coal ash neighbors: Don't raise rates as pollution lingers Hottest day ofthe year expected Friday, First Alert Day declared Saturday Study predicts Wilmington area beaches possibly unlivable by year 2100 http://www.wbtv.com/storyZ35881098Zstudy-predicts-wilmington-area-beaches-possibly-unlivable-by-year-2100 Hampstead residents upset with water company http://www.wbtv.com/storyZ35879730Zhampstead-residents-upset-with-water-company DEQ, DHHS at loggerheads again, still bickering over drinking water risks of hexavalent chromium http:/Zpulse.ncpolio ywatch.org/2017ZO7Zl3Zdeg-dhhs-loggerheads-still-bickering-drinking-water-risks-hexavalent- chromium/#sthash.bcsU8zu7.dpbs Below: Text versions of stories that may not be accessible to some via the links above: (Associated Press) NC changes governors, keeps cancer -causing chemical standard BY EMERY P. DALESIO RALEIGH, N.C. As a Democratic gubernatorial candidate last fall, Roy Cooper blasted his Republican opponent for adopting a more lenient standard than what's recommended by North Carolina's health agency for cancer -causing hexavalent chromium in well water. Now that he's governor, Cooper's environmental agency has decided to keep that same standard, infuriating people who say their well water is contaminated and enabling former Gov. Pat McCrory to call Cooper a hypocrite. The state Department of Environmental Quality's guidelines for the well -water filtering systems Duke Energy will be required by law to install for some neighbors of its North Carolina coal -ash storage pits were announced last week. They match the standard for protecting against hexavalent chromium that McCrory's administration adopted, which is about 140 times higher than the amount the state's health agency says could harm human health if exceeded. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says hexavalent chromium is likely to be carcinogenic when ingested. The chemical was portrayed as poisoning residents of a California town in a Hollywood movie about legal sleuth Erin Brockovich. Neighbors of the pits had been warned in 2015 against drinking well water with hexavalent chromium levels over the state health agency's safety threshold, which equates to a one -in -a -million chance of developing cancer for someone drinking the water over a lifetime. McCrory's team last year called that threshold too conservative and dropped the do -not -drink warnings. McCrory declared Thursday that he's been vindicated. "I concur with the administration about its decision because that's exactly what our team of scientists came to, the same conclusion. It's exactly what we recommended. Candidate Cooper said otherwise," DEQ-CFW-00080275 McCrory said in a phone interview. "The actions of this administration verify that the Cooper campaign misled and deceived the public about our drinking water in order to help win a campaign." Cooper's spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Lawyers representing coal -ash neighbors ripped the standard now adopted by Cooper's administration. "Families will have to rely on these systems for safe tap water," the lawyers said in a statement. "The much higher DEQ standard does not adequately protect the families who live near the coal ash." The stricter health -safety mark for hexavalent chromium is a non -enforceable goal that could be updated, but the more -tolerant level the environmental agency adopted conforms to state groundwater quality regulations, Department of Environmental Quality Michael Regan said in an interview Thursday. A science advisory board will study how much hexavalent chromium is safe to ingest and offer suggestions. "We need to remove the ambiguity," Regan said. GME_qXi. BY BRUCE HENDERSON As hundreds of people who live near Duke Energy's power plants wait for alternative water sources, state officials are again grappling with water standards meant to protect public health. Hundreds of homeowner wells near Duke's plants, including two in Gaston and Rowan counties, were found with elevated levels of potentially toxic metals. The biggest concern was hexavalent chromium, which might cause cancer when found in drinking water. Duke says the hexavalent chromium in the wells didn't come from its stocks of coal ash stored at the plants. But state legislators last year ordered Duke to its neighbors. Most of the goo households will cQr,,r,j w But Duke plans to offer systems to filter contaminants out of well water to about 20 percent of the residents. The debate now is how effective those filters should be. On July 7, the state Department of Environmental Quality announced that the filters could leave no more than to parts per billion of chromium — including its hexavalent form — in household water. DEQ-CFW-00080276 But, confusingly to Duke's neighbors, the state has a separate "health goal" for hexavalent chromium. It's based on the risk of hexavalent chromium causing more than one cancer case in 1 million people over a lifetime of drinking the water. The health goal is .07 ppb, 140 times more restrictive than the filter standard. A Salisbury law firm representing people who live near Duke's Allen power plant in Belmont and the Buck plant near Salisbury said the filter standard wouldn't protect residents. Most of those residents, however, are cqr-,1.,r',1ec;, tu �v-ah-r - I -------- -------------------------- ------------------ ------- --------------- -- ----- -------- "While we appreciate other efforts the DEQ has taken to address the coal ash problems, we believe the newly -announced standards are far too lenient to Duke," law firm founder Mona Lisa Wallace said in a statement Wednesday. "They would allow Duke to install water filtration systems that could contaminate at levels far above what hook-ups to municipal water would provide. We believe all Duke coal ash neighbors and their families are entitled to municipal water hook-ups and clean water." this week reported on an internal memo in which two state health scientists also said the new filter standard wouldn't adequately protect well owners. Duke Energy said Thursday it selected filter systems that would get as close to the more restrictive health goal as possible. "The performance targets we provided to the treatment system vendors from the outset was the health screening levels, and we have no plans to change those expectations," spokeswoman Erin Culbert said. The systems to be used typically reduce hexavalent chromium to below 1 ppb, she said, well within the lo ppb filter standard. But on Wednesday night, DEQ backtracked. The department said it would ask a state science panel whether the filter standard should be revised. "We recognize the widespread community interest and concerns about these performance standards," DEQ Secretary Michael Regan said in a statement. The science panel will "evaluate more recent health data on hexavalent chromium and provide a public forum to address these important issues," he said. DEQ will make a final decision on the filter standard after hearing the panel's recommendations. DEQ spokesman Jamie Kritzer said that while the filter standard is enforceable, meaning failures to comply could result in penalties, the health goal is not. "There are sometimes differences among scientists about things when it comes to what is allowable by law versus what is a goal set from a health perspective," he said. "We would all hope that the lowest level, or no, hexavalent chrome would be achievable" by the filters. A similar debate over hexavalent chromium roiled former Gov. Pat McCrory's administration last year, leading to the DEQ-CFW-00080277 Affected homeowners have said they don't know what to believe about the safety of their wells, so many have continued to drink only bottled water. Cathy Akroyd Public Information Officer Public Affairs / Water Infrastructure N. C. Department of Environmental Quality 919 707 9187 office 1633 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699 a S is n-qy i'."e ed to S. Facebook Twitter YouTube DEQ-CFW-00080278