DEQ-CFW_00083052

Michael S. Regan, Secretary
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Release: FdMEDIATE Contact: Jamie Kritzer
Date: Aug. 30, 2017 Phone: [phone]
State urges company to stop additional discharges of chemicals into the Cape Fear
DEQ also urges Chemours to disclose all contents of ivaste stream
RALEIGH — As part of its ongoing investigation. the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality this week urged
Chemours to stop discharging two newly identified unregulated compounds into the Cape Fear River and called on the
company to provide the state with a complete inventory of all chemicals included in its waste stream.
DEQ made those requests in a letter sent Wednesday. asking Chemours to stop the release of Nafion byproducts I and 2,
two chemicals that the Environmental Protection Agency identified at elevated levels in the company's waste stream. At
DEQ's request, the EPA is analyzing water samples from the Cape Fear River for GenX and other perfluormated
compounds
The two Nafion byproducts were detected by specialists with the EPA's lab in Research Triangle Park using new
technology and methodology. The EPA shared preliminary results of its analysis with DEQ and the N.C. Department of
Health and Human Services this week. Scientists at the EPA lab are conducting further analysis of water samples collected
by DEQ.
State officials began investigating the presence of GenX in the river on June 19. That ongoing investigation along with
pressure from residents and local officials prompted Chemours, the company manufacturing the unregulated chemical, to
stop discharging GenX from its Fayetteville facility. DEQ is now making the same request to stop discharge of the Nafion
byproducts.
"Our top priority is protecting the people of North Carolina," said Michael Regan, DEQ secretary. "Until we know more
about the health impacts of these chemicals the EPAjust reported to us, the company needs to stop discharging them.
We're also asking for detailed information about all other unregulated chemicals it discharges."
DEQ urged Chemours to provide a complete inventory, sampling data and test results for all other chemicals included in
the company's waste stream at the Fayetteville plant. DEQ will review this information as part of its ongoing investigation
and its review of Chemours' application for a new wastewater discharge permit.
New data provided by the EPA this week prompted DEQ's request to Chemours. The data include initial test results for the
two Nafion byproducts and three other non-GenX. . perfluormated chemicals. EPA scientists identified the chemicals in
samples collected from the Cape Fear River by DEQ at the Chemours wastewater outfall and finished drinking water from
the Sweeney water treatment plant in Wilmington. The water samples were collected over a six -week period starting June
19.
The EPA's preliminary results show that Nafion byproducts I and 2 have remained elevated without showing any
consistent increase or decrease. Concentrations of the three other perfluorinated chemicals identified by the EPA have
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dropped significantly similar to the way GenX levels fell after the company stopped discharging GenX. State and federal
officials believe it is likely that the three perfluorinated compounds were part of the same now -stopped discharge that
included GenX.
Public health experts with DHHS used available health studies to establish a health goal for GenX, Since the GenX
discharge stopped, concentrations of GenX have dropped well below the health goal of 140 parts per trillion. No similar
health studies have been identified for the Nafion byproducts or the other perfluorinated compounds analyzed by the EPA.
"QUOTE," said Mandy Cohen, secretary of the. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. "
[Need more here from DHHS including about efforts to look for studies, work with NIEHS/CDC and others.]
As part ofthe investigation, DEQ requested that the EPA analyze water samples for 12 unregulated chemical compounds
included in a 2016 study conducted by the EPA and N.C. State University. Among those chemicals are the three
perEluorinated compounds the EPA reported on this week. The EPA chose to add testing for the Nafion byproducts based
on its own prior internal study.
The Nafion process is discussed in the company's wastewater discharge permit applications to DEQ, but the company does
not specify the discharge of Nafion byproducts or the three other perfluormated chemicals identified by the EPA.
Scientists at the EPA lab are conducting further analysis of water samples collected by DEQ.. The EPA informed state
officials this week that it is working on a comprehensive report that will include concentrations of all of the compounds at
multiple sampling locations over a seven -week period.
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DEQ-CFW 00083053