——This week was a busy mix of breaking news and long-term investigations.
By far, the story impacting the most people was a mechanical failure at a CFPUA groundwater plant that resulted in dangerous levels of fluoride for 30,000 residents in northern New Hanover County. CFPUA scrambled to notify residents, but had little information to share about the incident for days—and some questions still remain.
We also have an update on the stolen grill from Martha’s Kitchen, a Carolina Beach soup kitchen that serves up to a thousand free meals every week. With chances of recovering the grill dwindling, Caronia Beach residents have set up a GoFundMe to help replace the grill — and get the soup kitchen back in action. If you’re interested in helping, you can find the GoFundMe page here.
Also, we take a deeper look at the long process behind this week’s story on issues at Wilmington-area drug treatment centers. With half of the area’s for-profit centers cited by state inspectors, it seems rumors of systemic issues may be true. Next up, what will local officials do about it?
And lastly, some good news: after two years, funding has been secured to repair a section of the Wilmington Riverwalk badly damaged by a hurricane in 2016.
If you missed these stories, you can catch up on them below — then dive into the podcast for a deeper look at the issues.
Update: State says fluoride double federal limit in water. CFPUA can’t explain why
Half of Wilmington’s private drug treatment facilities cited, including one for a patient’s death
Carolina Beach soup kitchen offers reward for stolen grill used to feed hundreds
Wilmington, Rouzer secure funding to repair damaged bulkhead