DEQ-CFW_00074442

C. {
Secretary Regan Opening Statement
• Good morning everyone.
• 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
— determining the safety of your drinking water is our No. 1 priority.
• 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
DEQ regional staff and their families ...
• Although we are searching for more answers, we are also taking action
immediately ...
• 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 Safe Drinking Water
Act.
• EPA has told us they are committed to supporting states and public water
systems as next steps are determined.
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• 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.
• This is a relatively new chemical and the health effects are not fully
understood at the current time.
• Starting as early as next week, we will begin a water collection and testing
regimen in the Cape Fear River.
• We expect to receive sampling supplies form the laboratory as early as this
week and our staff are prepared to mobilize as soon as we have that
equipment.
• We've developed a sampling plan that will include testing water at:
o four intakes
o the five water treatment plants (CFPUA, Pender County, Brunswick
County, International Paper, and Smithfield Packing),
o the CFPUA ASR well, and
o one water supply well used by Wrightsville Beach.
• We will need multiple rounds of sampling completed in order to perform a
meaningful evaluation of the water quality in the Cape Fear River.
• We appreciate the partnership with our Federal, state and local
counterparts and appreciate the cooperation the company has
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demonstrated thus far. It is our goal to help bring,clarity to this situation as
soon as possible and will be vigilant in doing so.
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