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Home My WebLink AboutDEQ-CFW_00078005From: Brower, Connie [/O=EXCHANGELABS/OU=EXCHANG[ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP (FYD|BOHF2]SPDLT)/CN=REOP|ENTS/CN=7EE8DB84D95G431C9A1F78IF5597BA62-CUBROVV[R] Sent: 6/9/20I7I:06:14PM To: Kritzer, Jamie [/o=ExchangeLabs/ou=ExzhanXeAdministrative Group (FYD|8OHFZ33PDO)/cn=Redpient$cn=cee93c49d01445a3b541bb3Z7dcdc84O-jbkritzer] Subject: R[: SenXfa||out: Is my water safe to drink? Wilmington Star News From: Kritzer, Jamie Sent: Friday, June U9 20179:48AM To: Culpepper, Linda <|indazu|pepper@ncdenr.gov>;Zimmerman, Jay ^jay.zimmerman@ncdenr.gov>;Grzyb,Julie "ju|ie.8rzyb@ncdenr.gov>;Brower, Connie <connie.bnum/er@ncdenr.gov>;6odreau,Jessica ^jessica.godreau@ncdenr.8uv>;Poupart,Jeff ^jeff.poupart@ncdenr.8ov»;Manning, Jeff ^jeff.mannin8@ncdenr.8ov»; Munger, Bridget xbrid8et.mun8er@ncdenr.gov>; Sink, Maria <K4ar|a.Sink@ncdenr.gov> Subject: FVV: GenXta||uut: Is mywater safe to drink? Wilmington Star News This story looks like a pretty decent explanation, based on our discussion yesterday. Jamie Kritzer Communications Director N.C. Department of Environmental Quality 031110YA�� En�J ��m��a�d�a �au��0'e y�ub�Ca/n8naReco/�oLam/ai, diS'o600ed6o��dPa/ �ao From: Kritzer, Jamie Sent: Friday, June 09, 2017 9:45 AM To: Hairston, Ursula HoUow/ay, Tracey Holman, Sheila Kelley, Mary Kritzer, Jamie Lance, Kathleen [ �Lane,8iUF� ;Lucey John ; Miller, Anderson <;K8undt,]ennifer �Nicholson, John A. <�Regan, Michael S �VVebste�Tlmothy] Cc: Akroyd, Cathy R Goodwin, Larry Lucas, Jill K4 Marshall, R Moore, Jerome Munger, Bridget Rudolph, Lexi A ; Sink, Maria ��mith,Trida Tolley, Lisa VV�8in�K4a�y You��arah 7- ,jenA fallout: Is my water safe to driink' ./ WILMINGTON -- A StarNews investigative story Wednesday that detailed a little-known toxii�� lm,d drinhim, n7alvr left manx, Southeastern North Carolinians wondering what to think about the water coming out then, taps. The toxin is a commercially produced compound known as GenX, a key ingredient in Teflon, that has raised health concerns among researchers. GcnX is produced byhemours Co. at FayettevilleWorks, an industrial site on the Cape Fear River, about 100 miles upstream from Wilmington, and a study recently found the compound in water treated by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA). Unanswered questions about GenX and its effects on humans make it difficult, experts said, to recommend any one course of action for consumers in the Cape Fear region. Dr. Alan Ducatman, a professor at West Virginia Univers1tv's School of Public Health, said the chemical is new enough -- production started in 2009 -- that it is difficult to chart a path forward for customers and utilities. The raw water intakes for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority lie just aboN7c Lock and Dam No. I in Bladen County. Researchers sampled river water here in 2013 and round GenX, a chemical made at the Chemours Co., about 50 miles upriver. [STARNEWS FILE PHOTO] Next ' �Vc have so little data," Ducatman wrote in an email. In the absence of data, it is easy to worry', but hard to recommend draconian measures. I would replace the drinking/cooking water, and use the municipal or well water for bathing or cleaning." QuanbrAlIng the risks CTcnX is difficult, said Detlef Knappe, a N.C. State University -professor who worked on the team that discovered the chemical in the Cape Fear River and CFPUA's system. Typically, Knappe added, the risk for compounds is calculated for people who have been exposed over the course of 70 years -- something that becomes exceedingly difficult if the associated cancer risk is unknown. Larry Cahoon, a professor or biology at the University of'North Carolina Wilmington, said the EPA considers GcnX an emerging contaminant," meaning it is so new the agency does not yet have protocols to regulate it. Rei,erse osmosis: A water filtration process in which pressurized water is driven through a membrane. The small pores of the membrane prevent molecules any larger than the pores from getting through. The EPA has identified reverse osmosis as an effective way to filter out uranium, radium, gross alpha and beta particles and photon emitters, as well as contaminants like arserne, nitrate and microbes, Source: EPA "Personally I find that really troubling," Cahoon said. "The company (Chemours) is being allowed to conduct a really big experiment on all us 250,000 guinea pigs, without knowing whether it'll hurt us."" Filtering contaminants Cahoon said he first learned about Knappe's research at a conference last month. "The thing I round eye-opening was his finding that the water treatment processes -- even here in Wilmington where we do a really good job -- unfortunately doesn't get these compounds out very well." he said. "'They're Vel�7 inert and pretty difficult to remove. DEQ-CFW-00078006 One of the few water filtration methods that could filter out Geux is reverse osmosis, an expensive method not currently used at GIFT UA's Sweeney Water Treatment Plant on the Cape Fear River. "It's a kind of filter system, but it operates on a molecular level," Cahoon said. "Reverse osmosis basically uses a very selective membrane that really only allows water molecules, which are very small, to go through it and it uses water pressure that forces the water through." Even the cheapest industrial -scale reverse osmosis systems cost tens of thousands of dollars ror a single unit. A water treatment plant the size of Sweeney could require dozens of units. Cahoon said only a few small-scale water operations in the region use reverse osmosis, such as Bald Head Island, which uses it to clean wastewater. "They have a small enough volume going through that they can do that and it takes everything out,"he said. "And again. it's expensive, but they can afford it." In -home solutions? One type of consumer who can afford reverse osmosis is the homeowner Flonic reverse -osmosis systems can be bought for a couple hundred dollars and are highly effective if used properly. But Cahoon cautioned that people should not rush out and buy a system without doing thorough research. Often, a homeowner will buy a reverse -osmosis system without understanding how to operate and maintain it, that could result in the system failing without the homeo,%viiers realizing it. "Informed consumers can make the right choice," Cahoon said. ",The problem is a lot of these water filtration systems, the technical aspects of them are above most folks' understanding. You can be sold a whole lot ofstun' without knowing how it's operating." At Wilmington's Tidal Creek Food Co-op, employees have noticed customers buying more packaged and reverse osmosis- fi I tered water. "Our water sales have increased -- I didn't know wjjv at firs id grocery manager Eric Edwards. "I guess I thought maybe i ,t," said I it 9 was something to do with the weather, but even today when it's 60 degrees people are still buying water." Jacqueline Lciblem, manager of Culligan Water in Wilmington, said her call volume was up 20 percent Thursday, with many asking about filter systems that can remove GcnX. "A lot of the calls are just from our customers wanting assurance to know that they equipment that they have will remove it," she said. "I think a lot of people are definitely becoming aware that there's a lot of different chemicals that aren't regulated. And irvou start researching how many unregulated substances are in water, that they don't have (maximum contaminant levels), it's just kind of the tip of the iceberg." Vabig/M Hagerty and Adain Magner contributed to this report. Reporter Cammie Behar), can be reached at 910-343-2339 or ;nic. corm Jamie Kritzer Communications Director DEQ-CFW-00078007 N.C. Department of Environmental Quality 919-707-8602 OJUIPS Re- abe s DEQ-CFW-00078008