HARI SREENIVASAN:

A spinoff of the chemical giant DuPont, Chemours has a chemical plant just more than a mile away, Watters, has lived here since 2012 with his wife and son. He's a veteran – former Special Forces — and works at nearby Fort Bragg.

He had no inkling that his water might be contaminated until the company tested his well and told him it had an unsafe level of an unregulated chemical known as GenX. Watters paid $800 to have his own analysis done, which showed GenX at 236 parts per trillion, well above the state's health goal of 140.

The company has told him the water is okay for non-drinking uses.

"Don't use your well water for drinking, cooking…but it is suitable for bathing washing dishes doing laundry." You're just not taking that risk?