CFPUA Asks NCDEQ to Take Action on 1,4 Dioxane
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has asked the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to take action on an emerging contaminant known as 1,4 Dioxane.
1,4 Dioxane is an unregulated compound listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a likely human carcinogen, and it has been detected in the Cape Fear River. The EPA has established a health advisory level of 200 parts per billion for this compound. It has also established cancer-related advisory levels: 35 parts per billion for a one in ten thousand cancer risk and 0.35 parts per billion for a one in one million cancer risk.
CFPUA’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant can remove approximately 66 percent (on average) of the compound from its drinking water through the treatment process, but many water treatment plants are unable to remove the compound. In our most recent results, the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant was able to remove nearly 70 percent of the compound, leaving a level of 0.23 parts per billion in the drinking water, which is below both health advisory levels established by EPA.
The city of Asheboro, upstream of our intake at Lock & Dam # 1, is one source of 1,4 Dioxane. Last Friday, CFPUA commented on the city’s draft discharge permit and asked NCDEQ to enforce limits on the compound that are in line with the EPA’s health advisory level for the compound. Today, CFPUA followed up on this comment by sending a letter to the Secretary of NCDEQ, Michael Regan.
See the most recent 1,4 Dioxane results from the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant.
New CFPUA Website Design Will Improve Accessibility of Emerging Contaminant Data
Last week, CFPUA went live with changes to its website that we hope will make the site easier to navigate and find information. These changes will affect the location of our testing results data for emerging contaminants.
Beginning this week, CFPUA will upload the testing results data for GenX, per-fluorinated compounds and 1,4 Dioxane directly into our Emerging Contaminants page as tables and graphs. This change will allow users to see results quickly and easily, without downloading lab reports. In addition to testing data, visitors to this page will also be able to view presentations CFPUA staff have made on the topic and browse a timeline of CFPUA action on emerging contaminants.
For customers interested in obtaining lab reports, we have installed a form function that will allow users to request reports to be mailed or emailed to them.