Duke researchers to release results of Pittsboro PFAS exposure study at web conference
Duke University professors will present Saturday morning the results of a study showing how residents of Pittsboro have been exposed to a class of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” due to their long-last characteristics.
A team led by Duke’s Heather Stapleton took tap water and blood samples from 49 people in Pittsboro in late 2019 and early 2020, measuring the presence of 13 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. PFAS are used in a wide variety of materials, from firefighting foam to Gore-Tex to nonstick pans; the chemicals are prized for their durability and resistance to water.
The median levels of PFOA and PFOS, a pair of PFAS chemicals that have largely been phased out, were higher in the blood of Pittsboro residents than in the blood of Wilmington residents, who have also long been exposed to PFAS. Further results of the study, which is one of several the Duke team is conducting around Pittsboro, will be presented on Facebook Live and Zoom at 10 a.m. Saturday. To watch the presentation, go to bit.ly/PFAStownhall or Facebook.com/SuperFundAtDuke/live/.
Katie Bryant moved to Pittsboro in 2011 and recalls being told to not drink the water there. Bryant has since dug into the town’s drinking water issue, served on the town’s Water Quality Task Force and participated in the exposure study.
“This research is critical,” Bryant said. “Without someone like (Stapleton) and her lab, I’m not sure we would have much urgency. I think that these studies are critical to show that we need to care, we need to understand the science and what’s going on.”
Bryant said she has seen the results from her tests and some of the PFAS molecules in her blood rise when the levels found in the river do. Stapleton’s team has been sampling several sites along the Haw and in Jordan Lake since June 2019.
In addition to PFAS, researchers have found elevated chemicals of 1,4-dioxane in the Haw River. Pittsboro is the only municipality that uses the river as its drinking water source.
Thursday afternoon, Sutton’s Haw River Assembly and the Southern Environmental Law Center announced that they have reached an agreement with the City of Burlington that would see the city take steps to determine where PFAS chemicals and 1,4-dioxane are coming from.
The Town of Pittsboro has tested several water treatment technologies to see what best removes the chemicals from the town’s drinking water. In August, the Chatham News & Record reported, the town agreed to extend the testing for about six more months to allow the contractor to better determine if ultraviolet rays oxidize PFAS and other chemicals in the water before treatment, potentially lowering costs.
Emily Sutton, the Haw River riverkeeper, said the focus should be on keeping the substances out of drinking water sources.
“Our state elected officials and federal elected officials should be preventing this from happening, our communities should be protected — safe drinking water is a human right,” Sutton said in an interview.
Sutton’s Haw River Assembly and SELC previously notified Burlington of their intent to sue the city after research indicated much of the contamination was coming from untreated wastewater and treatment plant sludge passing through the city’s plants. As part of the agreement, they agreed not to sue the city while the agreement is in effect.
“As a riverkeeper, I am constantly pushing and advocating for these compounds to be removed at the source,” Sutton said. “I think a lot of the focus has been on treatment at the drinking water site, but these compounds should not be released into the environment regardless.”
A contractor hired by Burlington will sample individual users, its collection system and its wastewater treatment process, per the agreement. Wastewater coming into the East Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant and going into the Haw River will be tested every two weeks for the presence of some PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, while landfill leachate from the plant will be tested once a month through February. The South Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant will also be tested through February.
The South Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant is about 23 miles up the Haw from Pittsboro’s intake, while the East Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant is just under 30 miles upriver.
“With the city’s cooperation, we can identify the source of the PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution in Burlington’s treatment systems much more quickly than through litigation. Once the source is identified, the city can and should take steps to stop the pollution,” Kelly Moser, an SELC senior environmental attorney, said in a prepared statement.
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