Regulators analyzing results taken from along the Cape Fear River and Wilmington-area water systems

RALEIGH -- A pair of local utilities released testing results Tuesday indicating the level of unregulated chemical GenX has dropped significantly in the area's drinking water since Chemours stopped discharging the unregulated chemical into the Cape Fear River.

Since early June, residents and officials have expressed great concern that GenX, about which very little is known, was found in their drinking water. DuPont and eventual spinoff Chemours began manufacturing the chemical in 2009 after agreeing to cease production of C8 in the face of mounting health studies and legal challenges.

Samples taken in 2013 and 2014 and published in 2016 showed an average concentration of 631 parts per trillion at Cape Fear Public Utility Authority's (CFPUA) intake on the Cape Fear River.

On June 21, within a week of meeting with local and state officials and two days after N.C. Department of Environmental Quality staff took initial samples around its Fayetteville Plant, Chemours began capturing and incinerating wastewater from the vinyl ether process officials said was putting the GenX in the river.

Tuesday afternoon, Cape Fear Public Utility Authority said samples taken June 26 and tested by Eurofins Scientific showed 149 parts per trillion of Gen X in raw water and 156 in finished water at the utility's Sweeney Treatment Plant. Then, on July 3, numbers in finished water had further declined to 55.4 parts per trillion.

Samples taken July 5 showed 93.9 and 87.4 parts per trillion in the raw and finished water, respectively.

Jim Flechtner, CFPUA's executive director, viewed the numbers with guarded optimism.

"Certainly we're encouraged to see the levels coming down in the river, but we want to work and continue to work to bring them down further," he said, later adding, "Our work isn't done yet. The numbers are encouraging, but I don't think this is the end."

Brunswick County analysis

One county over, Brunswick County has also been sampling its drinking water and sending it to an independent lab for testing.

Late Tuesday, the county announced that within two weeks of Chemours ceasing discharge, levels in Brunswick's drinking water were 19 times less than those recorded in 2013-14.

Brunswick's samples were taken June 29 at the county's Northwest Treatment Plan, a day N.C. Department of Environmental Quality staff were also collecting. The county mirrored state efforts again July 6.

The June 29 samples showed 36.8 parts per trillion of GenX in raw water and 32.8 parts per trillion in the county's treated water, according to Northern Lake Service Inc., a Wisconsin lab whose website touts its work with perfluorinated compounds.

The June 29 samples were also analyzed for the presence of C8, the chemical GenX replaced, and the similar PFOS, detecting a combined level of 10 parts per trillion. EPA health advisories have been set at 70 parts per trillion for both chemicals.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday how much the county paid Northern Lake Service.

State efforts

The local testing results were made public the same day DEQ said it had received the first results of the state's investigation into GenX.

TestAmerica, the lab conducting analysis for the state, has returned results from samples taken in and around the Cape Fear River between June 19 and June 29. DEQ staff are conducting a quality assurance review of the data, according to spokesman Jamie Kritzer.

That analysis is expected to be complete later this week, at which point the review will be turned over to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). DHHS is working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to complete health risk assessment for GenX, the unregulated chemical that has been found in the river in recent years.

The DHHS health risk assessment is subject to change over time as new information about GenX becomes available. DuPont first started manufacturing the chemical commercially in 2009.

"There is limited information available about the health effects of GenX and related chemicals, but we are working every day with our federal partners and academic researchers to better understand everything we can about this unregulated compound," DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said in a release.

Raw data from the sampling process will be released once DEQ and DHHS complete their full analysis of the information.

"Our goal is to make the public aware of our findings as soon as possible," DEQ Secretary Michael Regan said in a release.

State sampling

Samples were taken beginning June 19 at four points in and around the Chemours plant at Fayetteville Works, which is roughly 100 miles upstream from Wilmington. Then, three days later, DEQ staff sampled eight other locations in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.

By waiting three days, DEQ allowed the water to flow the roughly 70 miles from Fayetteville Works to CFPUA's and Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority's raw water intakes just above Lock and Dam No. 1. The process was repeated the following three weeks.

The Hoffer Treatment Plant, upstream of the Chemours plant, was added to the sampling locations last week.

"Taking multiple samples will give the most accurate data," Regan said in the release, "and enable everyone to better understand how much GenX was in the river during sampling and any potential health impacts it might have."

Chemours has agreed to pay for all costs associated with the state testing.

In addition to GenX, the testing also checked for six other similar contaminants the study identified in the Cape Fear.

"We don't have any information to make an informed analysis of those (other six) particular compounds at this time," Kritzer said, adding the information could be used to shape future health analyses.

DEQ officials are, Kritzer said, still awaiting the results of samples that were sent to an EPA lab at Research Triangle Park.

DEQ officials have announced they will not renew a Chemours discharge permit until its investigation into the chemical is complete. Until its application is either renewed or denied, the plant will be able to operate under a permit that expired in October 2016.

Reporter Adam Wagner can be reached at 910-343-2389 or Adam.Wagner@GateHouseMedia.com.