NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A Castle Hayne fire captain returned to duty after being placed on paid administrative leave. He has since retained legal counsel as multiple entities investigate occupational health and safety at Fire Station 13.
ALSO: CDC occupational safety division investigating Station 13 firefighter health
Station 13 Fire Captain Steve Hunt resumed work roughly a month after the county put him on paid administrative suspension. He was suspended March 28. PCD asked why it put Hunt on administrative leave, who requested it, and how the decision was made to end the fire captain’s suspension but according to the county, ”no further details are public under G.S. 153A-98.”
Hunt’s paid leave went into effect two days after he received a heroism award from New Hanover County Fire Department and eight months after the captain filed a crime tip against several county officials alleging their response to Station 13 firefighter health concerns amounted to criminal negligence.
Station 13, built in 1983, has faced PFAS and mold contamination issues and is in close proximity to a former Superfund hazardous site. Hunt raised concerns the cumulative impact of multiple environmental factors contributed to the station’s personnel suffering serious health conditions. He alleges the county has failed Station 13 personnel.
“I started asking for help in 2021 out of concern for the health and safety of my fellow firefighters and the community we serve,” Hunt previously told PCD. “Since then, I’ve faced resistance at nearly every turn.”
The county maintains it has done everything necessary to ensure the site’s safety, including regular testing and remediation efforts, installing advanced water filtration systems to reduce PFAS below health advisory levels, supporting firefighter participation in health studies, and constructing a new fire station to replace the current facility in September 2025.
Hunt went before the board of commissioners on March 24 during public comment. He emphasized a need for a state investigation into alleged obstruction and employee intimidation. Hunt told PCD prior that his job was threatened, though the county has denied this. The fire captain called for transparency and accountability of county officials in March.
He has since retained local attorney Gary Shipman of Shipman & Wright as legal counsel.
“We’re still in the investigative process,” Shipman said Friday, “Of not only speaking to those who worked there, hearing about the various maladies that they suffer from, and looking at available information about environmental conditions. So far, we have as many questions as we do answers. We’ve got some information that’s, quite frankly, concerning to me.”
As previously reported by Port City Daily, in December, the International Association of Fire Fighters sent a letter to New Hanover County urging immediate action after an informal health survey of Station 13 personnel found more than half of 23 participants suffered serious health maladies including cancer, gallbladder removals, kidney abnormalities, and liver dysfunction.
“They treated him like he did something wrong and gave no explanation,” Scott Mullins, president of the North Carolina chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said. “The guy is a stellar employee. He’s received numerous awards for his heroism. It’s a disgrace how they treated him for standing up and calling attention to a significant health problem.”
The controversy has triggered multiple investigations into Station 13 health concerns, including an ongoing environmental exposure study by the county and Duke University Superfund Research Center, a Department of Labor occupational safety assessment, and a federal evaluation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH is a division of the CDC responsible for researching and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.
The county received notice in late April that due to DOGE-administered staffing cuts, NIOSH was not able to continue the evaluation. The Trump administration planned to cut around 900 NIOSH workers by July — more than 85% of the agency’s staff — but reinstated 328 employees earlier this month amid a lawsuit from a coalition of 27 unions.
Last week, NIOSH informed the county it would recommence its Station 13 evaluation due to the restoration of its staff. PCD reached out to NIOSH to ask the timeline and status of the investigation but did not receive a response by press.
County Manager Chris Coudriet sent Labor Commissioner Luke Farley a letter last month requesting the Department of Labor provide guidance and recommendations to ensure adherence to workplace safety standards at Station 13.
On Friday, Assistant County Manager Lisa Wurtzbacher shared high level findings of the health survey portion of the review with commissioners.
“The survey listed 14 findings, 4 of which were abated that day while they were onsite. The remaining findings identified, that are currently being worked on, cover our Bloodborne Pathogens program, our Hazard Communication program, and our Respiratory Protection program and will be addressed in a timely manner,” she said. “These remaining findings mainly center around communicating the programs and what is required of them.”
The county is still awaiting completion of the report for the safety survey portion of the review. The Department of Labor requested corrective actions, including identifying fire services jobs at risk of bloodborne pathogens and respiratory health threats.
Mullins described the findings as not particularly significant threats to firefighter health compared to other issues personnel have faced, such as long-term PFAS exposure. Instead, he viewed the Department of Labor’s findings as indicative of the failure to meet rudimentary health protocols.
“I think it’s more of the same,” he said. “It shows that firefighter safety is not the county’s priority. If it was, this stuff wouldn’t be on the list. If you can’t count on them to do the very basic safety precautions, I have concerns about them doing the ones that really matter.”
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