BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Hundreds of residents in unincorporated areas of Brunswick County will be able to replace lead-contaminated water infrastructure after receiving millions from the largest environmental justice grant in United States history.
ALSO: Brunswick minority communities fight to address PFAS contamination
Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the $20 million Community Change Grant Award for North Carolina nonprofits Democracy Green and The Working Lands Trust. Representatives met at the Cedar Grove Improvement Center in Supply. The funds are provided through a $1.6 billion Inflation Reduction Act program — the EPA’s largest-ever environmental justice investment — meant to assist disadvantaged communities reduce pollution and address climate challenges.
The grant is primarily focused on helping communities in Supply, Ash, and Longwood reduce toxic lead contamination by replacing pipelines and fixtures.
“Every cent is already allocated to every single household of 500 people,” Democracy Green president La’Meshia Whittington said at Thursday’s event.
It will benefit 250 well users and 250 municipality and utility customers, she said.
Lead contamination causes severe negative neurological, reproductive, and cardiovascular health effects. The metal most commonly contaminates drinking water through corrosion from old pipe installations. While the federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires public utilities to replace corroding pipes, it does not regulate private wells.
“The importance of these grants is that they are made for the purpose of what the community thinks is needed,” EPA Region Four Regional Administrator Jeanenne Gettle told Port City Daily Wednesday. “We didn’t come in and say: ‘You need to replace this and replace that.’ We said, tell us what you need in your community and what will make a difference.”
A 2021 UNC study of 826 wells in Brunswick County found 10 above-maximum contaminant levels of 15 parts per billion; the most contaminated well contained lead at 104 ppb.
Because private wells are largely unregulated under state law, there is limited available data on contamination throughout the state.
Whittington’s organization has prioritized PFAS cleanup efforts in Brunswick County after finding high levels of contamination after Hurricane Florence in 2018. Over the last year, Democracy Green trained more than 500 residents to carry out water testing in Brunswick County and found many had high levels of lead pollution.
“How do you rebuild when your lands and your home are contaminated with chemicals?” she asked. “We realized lead was also in those pipes and a lot of the older infrastructure, homes, community centers, and churches. Over the years we filed co-petitions to the EPA. And, fortunately, under this administration they accepted our petition.”
“This is certainly a grand situation,” Brunswick NAACP president Carl Parker Sr. said at the event Thursday. “One of the first big giant steps. We can all stand on the shoulders of those that have worked before us but we are still continuing work for the water and sewer infrastructure through the county.”
Parker frequently attends Brunswick commissioner meetings to urge the county to apply for grants to extend infrastructure to African American and low-income communities. He helped organize a petition on the issue last year with over 400 signatories residing in unincorporated parts of the county. Well-users, Parker said, contribute taxes for county water and are unable to afford regular testing and utility extensions.
Nonprofit EarthRights International described Brunswick African American communities’ lack of access to water infrastructure as an example of racial discrimination and systemic neglect in a March presentation to the United Nations.
“The residents of Brunswick County are the stewards of the land that feed and clothes us all,” Working Lands Trust executive director Mikey Fulk said Thursday. “But to do that these residents need access to basic human rights for clean water.”
Around 10% of grant funds will help restore 28 acres of wetlands on Stanley Road to reduce PFAS and fecal coliform contamination in the Lockwood Folly River Watershed.
“We’re going to clean up the pipes,” Whittington said. “We also need to do our due diligence to clean up that groundwater.”
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