ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (WBTW) Robeson County officials are worried the chemical, GenX, will contaminate water in the county.
Director of the Robeson County Health Department, Bill Smith, said GenX is used to make Teflon and that The Chemours Company facility in Fayetteville is the source of the chemical.
Smith also said The North Carolina State Department of Environment along with labs contracted by Chemours are testing bodies of water near the plant for GenX.
“So it’s only a matter of time before it’s going to be in Robeson County.” Smith said GenX has been found in Cape Fear River which causes him to fear the contaminant is on its way to Robeson County.
He said there has to be another source of GenX because Chemours said it has stopped its contamination.
“Something is still continuing to change the amount going into the river and they’re not discharging any so what is it?” The Robeson County Health Director said he believes the state will test Robeson County early next year.
He said he suggests residents wait until the state does a test on the water, before residents pay for a test themselves.
Either Bladen has to come in or Cumberland comes down or Robeson goes up so that’s your true solution,” Smith continued.
He said GenX in honey is not as serious as GenX in water.
Smith said if GenX is found in Robeson County, the Robeson County Health Department will work with property owners on the wells.

Water service along State Road and in the Schoolvue area of Rehoboth Beach was shut down for five hours Dec. 19 after a contractor doing construction hit a water main.
City spokeswoman Krys Johnson said A-Del Construction, contractor installing the force main on the city’s ocean outfall, hit the water main.
Water was shut down at 11 a.m. as the city and the contractor are restored service.
Water service was back at 3:25 p.m. City officials said Rehoboth Beach Elementary is expected to maintain its usual schedule.
Cape Henlopen School District Superintendent Robert Fulton said the elementary lost water at about 10 a.m., but a fire hydrant was hooked up to provide limited water pressure to the school for flushing toilets.
Bottled water was brought for drinking.
He said he weighed the option of sending kids home, but decided against it because many kids have working parents and water pressure returned when the hydrant was hooked up.
“We’re hoping it’s fixed this evening,” he said.
Johnson urged residents turning on their water to run the cold tape for a few minutes to clear the pipes.
For more information, contact the communications department, 227-6181 ext 522 or email communications@cityofrehoboth.com.

A heartbreaking picture of a poverty-stricken girl on her hands and knees drinking from a PUDDLE is shocking people across the globe.
The youngster and pals are said to beg for money during the day in the city of Posadas in the north-east of the South American country.
Voluntary worker Migue Ríos started a national debate which has now crossed the borders of his native Argentina after posting the picture – taken by a local journalist – on his Facebook page.
“We must be doing something wrong as a society, mustn’t we?
“So that we finally start talking as a society about a problem which we often don’t do anything about because no-one highlights it, while those who should do something just carry on lining their pockets.” Today local news website Misiones Online explained the story behind the photo, revealing it had been taken by one of its reporters during a heatwave in the centre of Posadas, around 1pm on Wednesday.
“The journalist, who lives in the area, is used to seeing these sorts of scenes but he got out his camera and sent the photo to colleagues to see if more could be done to help them.
“Another colleague shared the images with a group of friends who managed to get together things for them including bottled water.
“Municipal and provincial governors help them on repeated occasions, even taking them back to the villages they come from, but they usually end up returning a short while later to beg for money again.” The photo has prompted a wave of anger and soul-searching among the thousands of people who have shared it online.
Ana Mari Gimenez Pons wrote: “I would be ashamed if I were a millionaire boasting about my luxury lifestyle while others die of hunger.” Tamara Lamirona added: “Put yourself in the place of that little girl and what she must fell or imagine your children in that situation!
!” The Guarani are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America.

“It’s killing our business.
His practice is several blocks from the water main break that triggered the boil advisory.
While workers restored service Sunday in those neighborhoods, the immediate area at the break remained without water into Monday night.
Crews were working constantly to restart the system there, with all customers expected to have service by mid-morning Tuesday, PWSA said.
Authorities made water buffaloes available for people who couldn’t boil their water, and bottled water went to affected schools and hospitals.
“I think part of our caution is to give people further assurance that the water is safe to drink,” Mr. Weimar said.
He said he knew of no PWSA boil advisories — ever — before this year.
About 100,000 city residents were affected.
Mr. Gilman said similar system problems in past years had not led to boil warnings.
“But I think the most important thing is to be cautious.” Mayor Bill Peduto said he expects a panel’s recommendations by Dec. 31 for strengthening the water system.

Initially, the city of Gresham applied for an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality grant to fund water-bottle filling stations, to encourage students to opt for refillable water bottles instead of purchasing and consuming single-use plastic water bottles.
But DEQ officials wanted to use the project as an experiment, to study whether students at high schools and middle schools with ready access to water-bottle filling stations are more likely to use refillable water bottles than students without such access, said Elaine Blatt, a DEQ senior policy and program analyst.
DEQ officials wanted data regarding student usage to encourage school districts across the state to install water-bottle filling stations, Blatt said.
Petroleum and other chemicals are used to make the plastic bottles, a process that also requires large amounts of water, energy and creates carbon emissions, said Jaylen Schmitt, a natural resource specialist with DEQ’s Materials Management Program.
As part of the nearly five-month pilot program, the 10 participating schools were divided into three groups: those receiving "water-wise" education about the environmental merits of refillable water bottles, those that got additional filling stations, and those that got both.
Their schools didn’t receive additional filling stations until after the study was over.
Three other schools received extra filling stations and offered their students the same lessons regarding bottled water usage and the environmental effects of single-use bottles.
Blatt said the results could help encourage school districts throughout Oregon to install reusable water-bottle filling stations.
• During the five-month pilot study, students used the filling stations to drink the equivalent of 330,000 single-use plastic water bottles.
Learn More Sponsored by Safesound Personal Alarm Report ad Sponsored

The PWSA announced that water service disrupted by a major water main break Sunday in the East End should be restored by mid-morning Tuesday and that the first round of testing found no contaminants.
The break in the 20-inch water main could have contaminated drinking water in eight Pittsburgh neighborhoods — and residents have been under a boil-water advisory as a precaution.
A notice from the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said: “Repairs are continuing 24/7 on Centre Avenue (South Negley Avenue – South Euclid Avenue).” Centre will remain closed to all traffic, including pedestrians, until repairs to the street are made, the notice said.
The authority said that the first round of bacteriological tests have been analyzed, “and there is no detection of any contaminants.” Another round of testing is required before the boil advisory can be lifted.
There will be no water service in that area until repairs are complete.
“When there is high pressure, there is no opportunity for pathogens to enter the pipe.” PWSA employees are testing the area’s water to ensure it is safe, Mr. Pickering said, and so far all of the tested water has been adequately disinfected.
The earliest that testing could conclude would be Tuesday evening, he said.
Crews began to repair the water main break Sunday and will continue Monday, he said.
PWSA has placed water tanks at the intersections of Centre and South Negley avenues, as well as at Centre and Euclid avenues, he said.
Robert Weimar, PWSA’s interim executive director, apologized for the inconvenience to customers on Sunday and said in a statement that there was no sign of any contamination to the water supply.

I drove out Monday to the Chemours plant off N.C. 87 to see how it’s handling bottled water distribution.
The chemical is manufactured by the plant and has been found in wells and lakes in south Cumberland County and Bladen County.
Signage at the Chemours plant took me right to the bottled water tent in a small parking lot on the plant site.
There were many rows of jugs on tables, sitting across from boxes with more jugs.
Michael Scott, director of the state’s Health and Human Services department, told him the state was disappointed with how Chemours was handling the distribution.
A yard sign across School Road from the Gray’s Creek Recreation Center advertised, “Crystal Water Care: Your Water Treatment Experts.” Taped to the window of the building was an October letter from Cumberland County Schools about community sites that were due for tests.
They included Gray’s Creek and Alderman elementary schools and Marshwood Lake.
Both lakes had amounts above the state’s provisional health goal of 140 parts per trillion.
The two schools are on bottled water.
John Pate has an 11-year-old son at Gray’s Creek Elementary.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has issued a precautionary flush and boil water advisory for several sections of Pittsburgh.
Following a large water main break on Centre Avenue in East Liberty Sunday morning, the PWSA restored pressure following a period of low-and-no water pressure for customers in the central and eastern sections of Pittsburgh.
UPMC Shadyside is also impacted by the advisory.
It released the following statement: “UPMC is following the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) boiled water notice, which affects UPMC Shadyside and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Both hospitals remains operational and there is no impact on patient care.” The PWSA also noted that there is currently a water buffalo located at Centre Avenue, where the main break occurred, and South Euclid Street for those without water.
More than 10 hours after the 20-inch main broke in East Liberty, crews were still working on repairs, and water was continuing to flow down Centre between Negley and Highland avenues.
Centre is still closed to traffic and will remain closed until the work is complete.
Crews have the leak isolated, which has restored water pressure to impacted neighborhoods and facilities, including UPMC Shadyside hospital.
The water main break also forced businesses to close as residents flooded grocery stores looking for bottles of water.
“I went to wash my hands and there was nothing.

Water woes remain in the Grays Creek community as the third public information meeting ends.
Some stood before the panel of experts in the hot seat, firing questions their way.
"Unfortunately, we can’t speak more to where criminal investigations stand but they are definitely ongoing," said one state expert.
Others were more concerned about if the chemical is a cancer-causing agent.
Bishop expressed feeling like he walked away with more unanswered questions than anything.
There’s still an ongoing investigation.
We’re doing an analysis.
Chemours is doing an analysis of private wells in the area," said Julie Woosley with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
The hour and a half meeting filled with presentations from experts with the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.
Still, some residents like Bishop still aren’t convinced.

Five schools in Edgecombe County are closed Friday due to a "major leak" in the Town of Tarboro’s water system.
According to the Edgecombe County Public Schools website, five schools in Tarboro are closed because of the ongoing water problems.
Martin Millennium Academy, Pattillo Middle School, Princeville Elementary, Stocks Elementary, and Tarboro High School will be closed to students, but it is an optional workday for staff members at the schools.
Officials say all other schools in the district will operate on the planned early release schedule.
The town reports that they noticed the leak Wednesday night when the gauges indicated low pressure.
As of late Thursday morning, the Edgecombe County town had not located the leak, but had an idea where it was.
Officials say periods of low or no pressure in the distribution system increases the potential for back siphonage and introduction of bacteria into the water system.
The Division of Water Resources advises that when water is restored consumers boil all water used for human consumption (including drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation) or use bottled water.
Read more about the boil water advisory here: The advisory remains in effect until further notice, according to officials with the Town of Tarboro Water System.