DEQ-CFW_00081806

August 7, 2017
Cape Fear River Legislative Delegation
Rep. Ted Davis:
This is a critical time in our efforts to make sure water is protected in the lower Cape Fear
River as well as the rest of our state.
We regret our planned meeting with you Thursday, August 3'd was not convened. We
had hoped to discuss a legislative request regarding enhanced water quality and public health.
Following our meeting with you July 24 in New Hanover County, we reviewed our
staffing and work requirements to address the urgent need that affects the health and safety of
residents in southeastern North Carolina: the discharge of unregulated chemicals into the Cape
Fear River Basin.
While we have deployed our staff experts to address the immediate challenges, long-term
solutions such as rigorous water testing and scrutiny of water discharge permits will take more
resources than the state of North Carolina currently maintains in our departments.
Enclosed you will find information that outlines our proposal. If you act, this will give
our state a strong team to confront this challenge head-on.
For background, the chemical byproduct GenX has been discharged into the Cape Fear
River Basin from Fayetteville -based Chemours. In the short term, the Department of
Environmental Quality will deny the company's permit request to release GenX. The
Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health and Human Services also
chartered a Science Advisory Board to tackle the issue of unregulated compounds. Governor Roy
Cooper requested an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, and federal prosecutors
are also requesting information regarding the company's discharge history.
But even as these reviews are ongoing, efforts to protect our drinking water can't stop
here. We ask that when you reconvene in September you authorize an emergency appropriation
to provide North Carolina with more frequent testing, scientists, medical experts, engineers and
inspectors.
DEQ-CFW-00081806

The legislation contains appropriations to the state agencies as follows:
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Resources to stand up a Water Health and Safety unit in the Division of Public Health that would
include additional expertise specifically related to water quality.
• Medical risk assessor, a physician who has experience with poisoning and environmental
toxicity;
• PhD Toxicologist, to research and review available studies and formulate strategies to
mitigate harmful health effects,
• Informatics/ epidemiologist, to organize data and perform high-level analysis to arrive at
causation of harm;
• Health educator, to establish adequate public notifications and provide educational
materials and briefings to the public.
Water quality monitoring, permitting; Department of Environmental Quality, $2,049,569
• Funding for long-term water sampling for the presence of GenX by DEQ at a cost of
$14,000 per week for a full year (currently the cost is being funded by the corporation
and performed by the Environmental Protection Agency and private labs on a time -
limited basis).
Staff for the Division of Water Resources: Already a backlog of water permits exists, and
the review time can take as long as two years. That's too long for the public and industry.
Adding experts would give us more thorough and timely review.
o Four Engineers, three Environmental Specialists, two Environmental Senior
Specialists, two Hydrogeologists, two Program Consultants, a Business
Technology Analyst and two Chemist III to strengthen the Division of Water
Resources so it can address unregulated compounds in the water discharge
permitting program and allow more frequent sampling and faster evaluation.
o These water quality scientists and experts like hydrogeologists and chemists
would work with local governments to identify where contaminants occur and
where they came from.
o Move the permits from paper copies to an electronic database to integrate
wastewater, drinking water and groundwater information and allow for easy
searches.
Legislative study on the effect of emerging compounds such as GenX
The status of emerging contaminants and whether an exemption to the "Hardison
Amendment" should be made for drinking water quality is a critical area for study. The
Environmental Review Commission is the most appropriate body to conduct such a study and
make recommendations to the legislature for the short session.
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We will continue to redirect available resources to address this urgent need. However, recent
budget cuts and the large scope and pressing nature of this challenge require your help.
We are available to talk with you by telephone or meet in person at your convenience
regarding this proposal. We are sharing it with your local officials and it will be released
publicly.
Thank you for your interest in this important public health and safety issue, and please let us
know what additional information we can provide.
Sincerely,
Michael Regan, Secretary
NC Department of Environmental Quality
CC: The Hon. Tim Moore
Speaker, NC House of Representatives
The Hon. Phil Berger
President Pro Tem, NC Senate
The Hon. David Lewis
NC House of Representatives, District 53
The Hon. Nelson Dollar
NC House of Representatives, District 36
The Hon. Deb Butler
NC House of Representatives, District 18
The Hon. Ted Davis
NC House of Representatives, District 19
The Hon. Holly Grange
NC House of Representatives, District 20
The Hon. Frank Iler
NC House of Representatives, District 17
Mandy Cohen, Secretary
NC Secretary of Health and Human
Services
DEQ-CFW-00081808

The Hon. Chris Millis
NC House of Representatives, District 16
The Hon. Michael Lee
NC Senate, District 9
The Hon. Bill Rabon
NC Senate, District 8
Chairman Frank Williams
Brunswick County Commission
Chairman Woody White
New Hanover County Commission
Chairman George Brown
Pender County Commission
Mayor Bill Saffo
City of Wilmington
DEQ-CFW-00081809