NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The battle for clean drinking water in southeastern North Carolina continues, this time focusing on the chemical 1,4-dioxane, with local governments and utility providers demanding action from the state.
READ MORE: CFPUA assesses treatment options for 1,4 dioxane, pilot-test could come next year
ALSO: Local nonprofit to sue upstream 1,4-dioxane dischargers, NHC commissioners request regulation
A series of separate letters sent over the past few months from New Hanover County Commissioners, Wilmington City Council, and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Management Commission requested a preliminary health goal and regulations for 1,4-dioxane contaminants in drinking water.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies 1,4-dioxane, which comes from industrial manufacturing, as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” This classification is based on scientific evidence, primarily from studies in laboratory animals, which indicate the chemical has the potential to cause cancer.
“It is very urgent that we get some kind support from DHHS to say ‘yes we want to set a safety standard’ or some sort of something,” New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple told Port City Daily Friday. “Just like PFAS, we can have some kind of defense for hundreds of thousands of people who live in Southeast North Carolina for the water that comes out of their tap not to be contaminated.”
The recent effort to get state action on 1,4-dioxane began with the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority appealing to the Environmental Management Commission for new regulations in November of 2024, but the petition was returned later that month by the Division of Water Resources Director Richard Rogers. Rogers said the situation did not meet the legal requirements for an “emergency” rule and was not urgent enough to bypass the standard rulemaking process.
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners later sent a letter to the EMC in March to support the previous request. This was followed by additional letters from CFPUA and Wilmington City Council in July and August, sent to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The letters, though mailed independently, advocated for the same issue.
“We believe the most effective way to protect drinking water, safeguard the health and safety of residents and shield downstream users from financial burden is to limit or stop pollution at its source,” commissioners wrote in their March letter.
A preliminary health goal is the first step in the rulemaking process at the EMC and would help jumpstart the rulemaking process.
A preliminary health goal is a non-enforceable target for a contaminant in drinking water, used as a foundation for setting a legally enforceable standard. It is determined solely by the level at which a contaminant is not expected to cause health effects in people over a lifetime.
Unlike a legally enforceable standard — such as maximum containment levels — a preliminary health goal does not take into account the cost or technical feasibility of treating the water to that level. State law requires the maximum containment level be set as close as is economically feasible to the preliminary health goal.
According to the NCDEQ’s 2024 drinking water legislative report, North Carolinians are receiving just 21% of the recommended health protection that a formal, science-based standard for 1,4-dioxane would provide. While there is some protection from water authorities treatment facilities, the level is below what health experts recommend.
DHHS press assistant Hannah Jones said the agency has received the letters and is currently reviewing the requests and working with NCDEQ for a solution.
This comes as NCDEQ is embroiled in a lawsuit with the cities of Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville over previously set 1,4-dioxane discharge limits. It began in September 2024 when an administrative law judge sided with the cities in a challenge to NCDEQ’s authority to regulate the chemical.
The judge argued the NCDEQ had overstepped its authority to regulate 1,4-dioxane because the EPA classifies it as a “likely carcinogen” but not a definite “carcinogen.” The ruling created a legal roadblock, making it difficult for the state to directly enforce pollution limits on upstream dischargers and forcing local downstream governments to seek alternative solutions.
The letters from local governments draw a parallel between the current situation with 1,4-dioxane and the PFAS contamination — particularly GenX — in the Cape Fear River. The most recent Aug. 12 letter from county Chair Bill Rivenbark emphasized the need to set a strong precedent.
“This critical step of setting a preliminary health goal is in line with the work done previously around GenX when it was identified in our community’s drinking water source; and we ask you to take that same important step for 1,4-dioxane on behalf of the health of our residents,” Rivenbark wrote to NCDHHS.
According to the letters, the financial burden of treating 1,4-dioxane is a primary driver of the local governments’ appeal to the state. CFPUA estimates implementing a new filtration system to effectively remove the contaminant would cost roughly $24 million in one-time capital expenses. This figure is cited as “yet another financial burden” on ratepayers, who have already had to absorb the cost of a $48 million investment in advanced filtration to remove PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” from the drinking water supply.
The water authority has been using a granular-activated carbon filtration system since 2022. It funded the filter project through the sale of revenue bonds, resulting in an increase of $5 per bimonthly bill for ratepayers. However, the CFPUA is actively trying to recover these costs through a federal lawsuit against upstream polluters Chemours and DuPont, filed in October 2017. The lawsuit is still ongoing and has not been settled, though a trial date is projected for 2026.
While effective at removing PFAS, the GAC system does not filter 1,4-dioxane; because of their small size, 1,4-dioxane molecules are able to pass through the system instead of absorbing to the carbon filters.
A separate system, ozone and biological filters, are used for capturing 1,4 dioxane and can filter around 52% from raw river water. Ozone is a gas that acts like a powerful cleaning agent and is injected into the water to chemically break down contaminants. The water then passes through special filters containing microbes and the tiny organisms eat the remaining contaminants, further cleaning the water.
Water testing from July 7 and 8 showed 1,4-dioxane in raw water at 0.55 parts per billion (ppb) and in treated water at 0.09 ppb. This places finished water well below the EPA’s drinking water concentration recommendation of 0.35 ppb that presents a 1-in-1 million cancer risk level for lifetime exposure.
The letters argue that, without state-enforced discharge limits on upstream polluters, the financial responsibility for clean drinking water unfairly falls on local residents rather than the source of the contamination. CFPUA public information officer Cammie Bellamy said it is too early to know what, if any, potential increases ratepayers could face for the cost to install new 1,4-dioxane treatment technology.
Outside of appealing to state agencies, CFPUA’s long range planning committee met on July 24 to explore 1,4-dioxane treatment strategies. The committee considered upgrades to the advanced oxidation process, foam fractionation, and a propane-based treatment. A decision on a strategy has not yet been taken, but CFPUA staff is continuing to review options.
Have tips or suggestions for Charlie Fossen? Email [email protected]
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
