NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A local nonprofit is inviting community members to voice their perspective on clean water issues at a downtown brewery Tuesday evening. The community event comes ahead of this week’s Environmental Management Commission meeting and legislative debates on three local lawmakers’ PFAS bills.
READ MORE: Sen. Lee files PFAS bill to establish discharge limits, fund mitigation and research
ALSO: ‘Worse than nothing’: Proposal would require PFAS reduction plans without enforcing limits
Cape Fear River Watch is hosting the “Postcards against PFAS” event from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 6th, to provide community members the opportunity to engage with several pending PFAS issues.
The gathering will take place at Waterline Brewing, 721 Surry St., in downtown Wilmington. Cape Fear River Watch is providing pizza and postcards for residents who want to send public comments to state officials influencing PFAS regulations.
“If there ever was a time to make your voice heard on PFAS — it is now,” Cape Fear River Watch executive director Dana Sargent said.
On Wednesday, the Environmental Management Commission will consider moving forward on a proposed PFAS Monitoring and Minimization Plan that would require industries to sample PFAS discharges without penalizing pollution.
Sargent described the plan as “worse than nothing” because it would provide liability protection to PFAS dischargers without enforcing limits.
Meanwhile, local lawmakers including Sen. Michael Lee, Rep. Ted Davis, and Rep. Deb Butler have introduced bills to implement PFAS limits and make industry liable for cleanup costs. Cape Fear River Watch is urging community members to contact local officials about pending PFAS bills as they are debated in the General Assembly.
Cape Fear River Watch has carried out a broad range of legal actions to address PFAS pollution in North Carolina. The group’s lawsuit against Chemours culminated in a 2019 consent order putting a number of PFAS-reduction requirements on the multinational corporation. More recently, CFRW engaged in litigation to require Chemours’ to disclose PFAS-related documents and limit the City of Asheboro’s upstream 1,4-dioxane pollution.
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