GenX (Dupont Nemours NC Contaminant) Found In Groundwater, Surface Water, Now In Honey
Earlier this summer, it appeared that GenX contamination, while a crisis, could at least be contained. And once the pollutant was contained, state environmental officials believed, they could then begin the arduous process of removing it. But as the NC Department of Environmental Quality has continued its investigation, now in its sixth month, officials have detected high levels of the chemical not only in groundwater, but also surface water, private drinking water wells — and now, even honey from a farm near the plant near the Cumberland/Bladen county line.
In June, GenX was detected at high levels in the Cape Fear River and drinking water downstream of the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant. But by July, levels of the contaminant sharply dropped after Chemours said it had stopped discharging the chemical — not to zero, but a significant decline. “I was thinking, ‘We have a success story,” Assistant Secretary of the Environment Sheila Holman told members of the Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board yesterday. “But now, not so much.”
The SAB, which met in Wilmington, one of the affected communities, underscored the uncertainty about health risks, the dearth of independent scientific data about GenX, and the daily unease that has saddled the people who have been exposed to the chemical in their drinking water.
Our charge is to use the best available science to assist decision makers,” said SAB Chairman Jamie Bartram. “That’s quite a charge, because there’s very little science to help us.” “At the end of the day have very little experimental data and we don’t even have it in front of us,” added SAB member David Dorman. “There are a lot of unknowns. I’d err on the side of uncertainty to be protective.”
One of those unknowns is how GenX found its way into honey produced at a farm near the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant. The honey, which is not sold commercially but offered to the farmers’ family and friends, tested positive for GenX at a concentration of 2,000 parts per trillion. It’s unclear how the honey was tainted: Via air or water from the Chemours plant, or if the collection container, for example, was made from plastic containing GenX or similar compounds.
EDIT
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2017/12/05/even-found-honey-mysteries-deepen-extent-risks-genx-contamination/#sthash.OyzgZlLT.N2eCr4sz.dpbs