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TOXIC TAP WATER: What we know and what we don't know

Star-News - 6/8/2017

June 08--A chemical replacement for a key ingredient in Teflon linked to cancer and a host of other ailments has been found in the drinking water system of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), which cannot filter it. Here's what we know and what we don't know but are working to get the answers for. You may want to bookmark this. We will post here as answers become available.

What exactly is GenX? GenX was introduced by DuPont to replace PFOA, commonly called C8. DuPont began offering GenX to its customers in 2009, after being granted a consent order from the EPA. The company describes GenX as being easier for humans to eliminate than PFOA and with a "favorable toxicological profile," a term that describes its toxicity and adverse health effects. Researchers, however, say the few health studies available on GenX appear to come only from DuPont and Chemours and include findings they say point to the potential for risks similar to those posed by C8.

What is C8? This is the name commonly used for PFOA, which stands for perfluorooctanoic acid. PFOA was used in the manufacture of many products, including DuPont's Teflon. Documents obtained from DuPont as part of legal actions in the late 1990s and early 2000s revealed that the company had known about possible health risks from exposure to PFOA for several years, information not shared with the public or government regulators. Such undisclosed information contributed in 2005 to a then-record $10.25 million civil administrative penalty against DuPont by the EPA, which cited "multiple failures to report information to EPA about substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment that DuPont obtained about PFOA from as early as 1981 and as recently as 2004." PFOA embroiled DuPont in multiple lawsuits, including a class-action suit involving C8 contamination in the mid-Ohio Valley. DuPont and Chemours settled the suit in February a $670.7 million.

How much GenX is in the water? In 2013-14, researchers measuring for the compound found 631 parts per trillion -- or 631 drops per every 10 Olympic swimming pools of water -- at CFPUA's water intake in the Cape Fear River. That is more than nine times the EPA's recommended 70 parts per trillion advisory amount for C8, GenX's predecessor.

Exactly what areas are affected? Cape Fear Public Utility Authority says the Cape Fear River accounts for about 80 percent of the water it treats and distributes. The largest area is served by river water passing through CFPUA's Sweeney Treatment Plant and includes all of Wilmington, Monkey Junction, Wrightsboro, portions of Ogden and Flemington, a small community just off U.S. 421. A reporter has requested CFPUA provide us with more specific boundaries. We will report that as soon as it is available.

Is anybody doing anything about this? Officials at the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, charged with regulating pollutants released by manufacturers such as Chemours, said last week said the agency has seen the studies and plans to meet with one of the researchers, Detlef Knappe, a professor at N.C. State University, this month before deciding how to proceed. "Obviously, we need to look into it ourselves," said Julie Grzyb, the department's supervisor for complex permitting. "Unfortunately, with these unregulated contaminants, we have one hitting us after another and we're trying to deal with it."

The EPA, in response to emailed questions, wrote: "In its review of the GenX premanufacture submission (for approval to make it), EPA determined that the chemical could be commercialized if there were no releases to water." The agency has yet to respond to reporter's questions about what it intends to do now that testing has shown GenX to be in the water. We will keep asking.

Late Wednesday, CFPUA issued a Civic Alert on its website: "CFPUA is aware of the N.C. State study concerning unregulated contaminants in the Cape Fear River. We take our responsibility to provide clean drinking water very seriously, and we reasonably expect private dischargers to behave responsibly and regulatory agencies to provide proper guidance and oversight. Since the State of North Carolina and EPA establish the drinking water standards we follow, we will be looking to them to determine whether this currently unregulated contaminant should be regulated in our source water. As a local water utility, we look forward to supporting the state and EPA in ensuring our customers continue to enjoy safe and reliable drinking water. In the meantime, CFPUA continues to meet all state and federal drinking water standards for safety."

What about water I use to take a shower or put through my coffee machine? The StarNews has asked this question of multiple state and federal agencies, as well as researchers, and is awaiting replies. The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department, where GenX's predecessor, C8, was the focus of a $670.7-million class-action lawsuit settlement, warns residents not to use tap water in food preparation; ice machines; drink machines, such as coffee and tea makers; fruit and vegetable misters in retail stores; drinking fountains; teeth-brushing; and the washing of fruits and vegetables.

How could this impact the wildlife that drinks from the water or fish that live in it? The StarNews has asked the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission if it has ever investigated how GenX or C8, its predecessor, impacts either animals or fish or were aware of research that had done similar work. The StarNews will report this information as soon as it becomes available.

Can I do something personally to get it out of my water? Reverse-osmosis filtration systems, including ones available for household use, may be effective in removing it.

I live in Brunswick County. Should I be worried? CFPUA is the only water system tested, but Detlef Knappe, the N.C. State professor and one of the researchers who traced the toxin from Fayetteville to Wilmington, said he expects that GenX is also present in the Northwest Water Treatment in Brunswick and Pender County systems that receive water from the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority. The StarNews has assigned a reporter to look specifically at Brunswick County systems.

Why isn't the company that makes GenX doing something about it getting into the water? "There's no obligation (for Chemours) to inform a utility like Wilmington and tell them, 'You may find this new chemical in your water,' " researcher Detlef Knappe said. "So since this chemical is new and isn't regulated, it isn't communicated to a public utility that the upstream discharge may contain this chemical."

In a statement provided to the StarNews, Chemours wrote that it has a "manufacturing control system to minimize the potential for environmental releases and resulting exposures."

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