By Nicole Eastman, Riverkeeper Assistant and Watershed Protection Specialist
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) held a public comment period to receive input regarding the proposed PFAS and 1,4-dioxane monitoring and minimization rules. The rules would require industries and Publicly Operated Treatment Works (POTWs) to monitor and create a plan to minimize or eliminate three PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, but there are no requirements for implementation. Without an enforcement mechanism, the proposed rules would not hold dischargers accountable for releasing these extremely harmful contaminants into receiving water bodies, and they would not adequately protect water quality and public health.
In YRK’s comments, we advocated for the EMC to deny approval of these weak rules and recommended the state develop numeric standards for all PFAS and 1,4-dioxane based on human health criteria. Also, YRK urged the EMC to require all National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits include technology-based effluent limits for these compounds in order to encourage dischargers to release near-zero PFAS levels into our waterways and apply these standards and limits to PFAS as a class, not three PFAS.
YRK is concerned about PFAS contamination surrounding Alcoa’s old smelting plant and landfill. Contamination from stormwater runoff continues to flow from these sites into Badin Lake and Little Mountain Creek from outfalls and drainage ditches under a NPDES permit. Unlined landfills in general are associated with PFAS contamination in surface water because they are the final holding location for PFAS-containing waste.
Water quality monitoring conducted by Duke University’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, Yadkin Riverkeeper, and other community partners, found elevated levels of PFAS in Little Mountain Creek, which flows into the Yadkin River/Lake Tillery that serves as the water supply for Montgomery and Union counties. Little Mountain Creek is classified as WS-IV (Water Supply-IV), and the results showed PFOS and PFOA levels that are 3-4 orders of magnitude greater than the proposed 02B Numeric Criteria for Water Supply Waters, 0.06 ng/L for PFOS and 0.01 ng/L for PFOA. These results may show elevated levels from the cumulative impact of the airport, nearby landfills, National Guard base, the North Carolina Emergency Training Facility, Alcoa’s operations, and the Stanly County Detention Center.
YRK is advocating for long overdue public health protections for the community of West Badin and the entire Yadkin River watershed through the establishment of surface water standards and effluent limits for Significant Industrial Users (SIUs), Publicly Operated Treatment Works (POTWs), and industrial dischargers.