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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — A recent contamination of the water near Wilmington by the chemical GenX has many people in the Cape Fear Basin on edge.
While no one in the 9OYS viewing area is impacted by this contamination, it does highlight a much larger issue.
Our economies can’t survive without access to clean water.” The recent GenX contamination in the lower Cape Fear River has people wondering how safe their water is.
“One of the big keys that I know we have here in the state and also on the federal level is that our regulatory agencies, those that are really in charge of protecting our water resources, are continuing to be under-funded,” Deck said.
The underfunding may translate to confusion for companies and consumers alike.
“We tap in to ancient, underground aquifers here in Onslow County that have no connection whatsoever with surface water or the Cape Fear River, the New River or the ocean,” said Hudson.
Riverkeepers agree that GenX is not the only thing people should be concerned with.
“It does require a lot of studies and information,” said Deck.
The agency did not indicate how long it would take to get answers.

ONWASA: Onslow drinking water not impacted by Cape Fear contamination.
The regional water system that provides public drinking water for most of Onslow County said the local water supply is not impacted by the chemical contamination found recently in the Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina.
“ONWASA is not interconnected with the Cape Fear Public Utilities System, nor can chemicals from the Cape Fear River migrate into ONWASA’s water supply,” the release states.
The StarNews has reported extensively on the issue and reports state the compound GenX has been found by researchers on three different occasions in the Cape Fear River, including in the Cape Fear Public Utility’s intake.
DuPont and spin-off company Chemours ceased production of C8 in the face of mounting legal challenges and a body of research indicating dangerous health effects.
ONWASA provides 2.8 billion gallons of water each year to 140,000 customers in unincorporated areas of Onslow County outside of the city limits of Jacksonville as well as the towns of Holly Ridge, Swansboro, Richlands (with the exception of a small section served by a private utility), and North Topsail Beach.
Unlike other systems that draw raw water from surface sources such as rivers or reservoirs, ONWASA uses deep, ancient underground aquifers for its water supply.
The deep aquifers have not been subjected to any known chemical contamination, according to the ONWASA news release.
Jacksonville’s annual drinking water quality report can be found on the city’s website.
Reporter Jannette Pippin can be reached at 910-382-2557 or jannette.pippin@jdnews.com.

Well that provides water to Saugerties Comfort Inn is contaminated, DEC finds.
The Comfort Inn is not near any of the village-owned water lines.
Several years ago, according to Michael Hopf, village water superintendent, the owner of the Howard Johnson hooked up to a village water line by the Land and Sea Restaurant on Route 212.
The village water department put a water meter on Howard Johnson’s hydrant while it was supplying water to the Comfort Inn to keep track of how much water was used.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Sunoco service station across Route 32 from the Comfort Inn was ordered to hire a company to find out whether the leak was coming from his gas station.
Ahmed Biooa, manager of the gas station, said last week that nothing had been found in any of the ditches dug around the station by American Petroleum of Albany.
American had been called in to find out if there was a leak at the gas station, and if so, where.
State DEC officials told him that it did not appear there was a current leak, but there may have been a leak at one time, Hopf said.
The Sunoco station and the Comfort Inn are near the Winston Farm, being considered by the village water department as a secondary source of water for customers.
“Maybe the Comfort Inn and the Sunoco station can ask to be allowed to tie in to that line,” Hopf said.

Investments in major chemical and manufacturing industries have been marked by industrial estates, especially in the Eastern Seaboard some 150 kilometers from Bangkok.
“The production and use of hazardous substances in the country has caused pollution as hazardous substances were released into the environment and may cause contamination or remain in the environment,” the PCD said.
Heavy metal pollution Marek Sir, a chemistry researcher from the University of Chemistry and Technology in the Czech Republic, said the studies indicated concerns over heavy metal pollution in areas near industrial plants.
“That’s a problem — still there are toxic fumes released into the environment and the easiest way to spread the pollution of heavy metals, which are absorbed on solid particles and they can diffuse into the air and can be transported.
The EARTH/ARNIKA report accused factory owners responsible for pollution of “uncaring management,” with the result of water pollution, toxic air pollution and hazardous industrial waste — especially those mismanaged and illegally dumped.
Cost of rehabilitation EARTH director Penchom said access to funding for land rehabilitation remains a major stopping block.
It’s very difficult to enforce the law for the polluters to pay,” she said.
Tara said policy often compromises the environment to the benefit to industry and development.
When we can see that the result from the toxic contamination in different regions in Thailand — also affects the community,” Tara told VOA.
The Pollution Control Department set out a strategic plan covering 2012-2021 calling for “rules and regulation amendments to facilitate effective waste management as well as strict enforcement of the laws.

THURMAN — Work started Monday to install a new water system in Thurman to address the contamination emanating from the town’s old salt storage shed.
Supervisor Cynthia Hyde said Tuesday that the work should be completed in August.
The problem stems from a storage shed built in 1997 on town property without any state permits.
Thurman took out a bond anticipation note of up to $313,000 to cover the cost of the project.
During Tuesday’s Town Board meeting, some residents questioned why the town was issuing a bond anticipation note instead of an outright bond.
The Town Board on Tuesday agreed to hold monthly meetings to review and audit bills for this project.
“We really want to do a good oversight with this water system,” Hyde said.
The audit, which was released in March, faulted the town of Thurman for lax oversight of two capital projects — remediation of the salt contamination and installation of the white space internet system.
The town in July 2013 approved replacing the salt storage shed and remediating the contamination at a total cost not to exceed $100,000, which would come from reserves.
Auditors said the town should have prepared financial plans for this project and the white space project.

The military and local water authorities in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington are spending millions of dollars to install 20-foot tall towers of carbon at numerous drinking wells.
About two dozen chemicals related to PFOS and PFOA also can be found in water contaminated by firefighting foam, and those chemicals slip through carbon treatment faster than the other two perfluorinated compounds.
This means the chemicals could get into drinking water if a water authority isn’t looking for them.
“If you’re treating for PFOS or PFOA only, a lot of these other chemicals are going to break through the system,” said Chris Higgins, a professor of environmental engineering at the Colorado college and the study’s lead researcher.
Most large carbon filtration systems, including those being installed locally, pass water through one carbon filtration tower, then test it for the chemicals, and then pass it through a second tower before it’s ready for drinking.
This two-tiered approach may not be as effective as previously thought, Higgins said, based on his research and other studies.
The military has agreed to pay to install carbon filtration systems for those wells.
And Warminster gets all its water from the North Wales system, according to Warminster Municipal Authority manager Tim Hagey.
Private water supplier Aqua Pennsylvania, which serves a number of communities in Bucks and Montgomery counties, said this week it would install and test carbon filtration systems on contaminated wells in Hatboro and Chalfont.
When tests on one Hatboro well and one Chalfont well showed levels approaching the EPA safe limit last year, they were taken offline.

Amid Contamination Concerns, Portsmouth and Greenland Ask N.H. to Pay Water Bills.
The city of Portsmouth and the town of Greenland are asking the state to help pay for public water at homes whose private wells may be at risk of water contamination.
Officials in Greenland had previously asked Portsmouth, which operates the only public well in Greenland, to extend water lines to about 300 homes near the landfill.
Now the two communities are teaming up.
They’re asking the state to use about $17 million dollars from a settlement fund to extend the water lines.
That fund was created by lawsuits over contamination from a chemical used in gasoline that contaminated groundwater across the state.
Jack Blalock is mayor of Portsmouth.
“The money is available from a contaminating source, the MtBe money is available.
And this is the type of project that seems suitable, to use that money to ensure clean water for residents.” The state Department of Environmental Services is currently testing monitoring wells at the site in an effort to map the boundaries of the contaminated water plume.
No private wells have tested above state thresholds for unsafe levels of contaminants.

Boil water advisory continues in Livonia; First water sample shows no contamination.
LIVONIA, Mich. – Although the first water sample showed no issues, officials are still urging Livonia residents to boil their water before using.
The GLWA provided this update Tuesday morning: The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), the region’s water supplier, has advised the City of Livonia that their first test samples show no bacterial contamination from the loss of power at a GLWA pumping station.
The safety of our citizens and water customers is of the highest priority.
Until the boil water advisory has been lifted, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST.
Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice.
The boil water alert issued Saturday evening in Livonia is not expected to be lifted before Wednesday, officials announced.
Until the boil water advisory is lifted, residents are instructed not to drink the water without boiling it first.
Farmington Hills boil water notice ends A precautionary boil water notice issued Saturday for parts of Farmington Hills has ended.
This caused a drop in pressure in the water supply which may have caused bacterial contamination.

Using Infrared Spectroscopy to Measure Hydrocarbon Pollution Levels in Water.
Measuring the pollution levels in water so as to control CHC levels is important to protecting environmental and human health.
Developing a Method to Analyze Hydrocarbons in Water When examining CHC levels in water, the challenge is to use an ideal liquid-liquid extraction technique, to remove the water itself which would hinder with the measurement, with an environmentally friendly solvent.
Every different CHC has its own infrared fingerprint which can be identified with the aid of infrared spectroscopy.
Once identified, the quantity of infrared absorption can be used to establish the concentration of each CHC in a sample.
However, the halogenated solvents that the FT-IR technique used were sources of ozone-depleting chemicals, and so they were thought to be unsafe.
However, selecting the right FT-IR model for hydrocarbon analysis continues to be a challenge.
Infrared Accessories for Effortless Liquid Analysis Specac’s Pearl™ Liquid Analyzer is a high specification liquid transmission accessory, which is perfect for measuring hydrocarbon pollutants in water.
The Pearl™ from Specac It is the ideal choice for any application that requires liquid analysis as it offers a quicker, more accurate and more repeatable analysis compared to traditional liquid cells.
References [1] W. H. Organization Unicef et al., “Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update”, World Health Organization, 2015 [2] R. Lu, B. Mizaikoff, W-W Li, C. Qian, A. Katzir, Y. Raichlin, G-P Sheng and H-Q Yu, “Determination of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in Water Using Highly Sensitive MidInfrared Sensor Technology”, Scientific Reports 2013, 3, 2525 DOI: 10.1038/srep02525 [3] J. Mabin, E. Alghamdi, C. Hodges, S. J. Freakley and S. A. Lynch, "Monitoring the Photocatalytic Oxidation of Water-Based Organic Pollutants by FT-IR Spectroscopy in Real-Time," 2016 41st International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz waves (IRMMW-THz), Copenhagen, 2016, pp.

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) – A new study finds Alabama is tied with New Hampshire and second only to New Jersey for the number of drinking water sites contaminated with toxic chemicals. The Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University released the report last week highlighting locations contamination levels of highly fluorinated toxic chemicals known as PFCs or PFAs in drinking water. The study created an interactive map identifying locations throughout the country. “PFCs are chemicals previously used for Scotchguard for waterproofing, things like that….