CFPUA Announces Community Forums to Discuss PFAS Treatment Implementation Strategy
Few things are as important to a community as reliable, safe drinking water. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has been addressing the complex issue of contaminants discharged into the Cape Fear River by upstream industries and we would like to update the public on our progress. CFPUA will hold four public meetings to discuss next steps to address per-fluorinated compounds (PFAS), one of them known as GenX, found in the Cape Fear River—the drinking water source for customers served by the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant.
The public is encouraged to attend any of the public meetings to learn more about CFPUA's plan, ask questions of CFPUA staff, and share comments.
Meeting dates, times, and locations are as follows:
- Thursday, October 25 from 6 – 7:30 pm at the CFCC Union Station: Room U-470, 502 N. Front Street, Wilmington, NC 28401
- Saturday, October 27 from 11 – 12:30 pm at the North East Library: Oleander Room, 1241 Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC 28405
- Tuesday, October 30 from 10 – 11:30 am at Halyburton Park: Community Building Main Room, 4099 S. 17th Street, Wilmington, NC 28412
- Thursday, November 8 from 5 – 6:30 pm at CFCC North Campus: Room NE-108, 4500 Blue Clay Road, Castle Hayne, NC 28429
These community meetings are an opportunity for our customers to learn more about CFPUA's role in the reduction of PFAS from drinking water. Each session will include a presentation that explains the decision-making process and discuss our next steps.
Key highlights of the presentations are:
- We know our current treatment technology is unable to remove PFAS from the water and information on the health effects of these compounds remains limited. Still, public health experts agree that reducing exposure to these compounds is beneficial.
- A pilot study conducted at the Sweeney Plant over the past year has shown that installing a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system would reduce PFAS in the finished drinking water. On October 10, 2018, the CFPUA Board approved the design contract for a new GAC system.
- In the interim, CFPUA will adjust the existing filtration process to reduce PFAS levels until the upgrade is complete. This solution is only temporary and would not be practical in the future as water demands increase.
- Upgrades to an advanced treatment facility like the Sweeney Plant are costly. The combined costs of our interim solution and the permanent solution would exceed $46 million— an expense we do not believe our community should have to pay.
- A typical residential customer would see a monthly five dollar increase on their bill until the costs of design and construction have been reimbursed.
In October 2017, CFPUA filed a lawsuit against Chemours and Dupont, and we are asking for a full recovery of every dollar we have spent to address this issue.
We remain committed to providing the highest quality drinking water for our customers. Communication and transparency remain our top priorities as we work with the proper authorities to reduce PFAS in our community’s drinking water, and we will continue to update you as our work progresses.