DEQ holds community meeting on private well sampling in Pender Co.

ROCKY POINT, N.C. (WECT) - The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) held a community information meeting at Heide Trask Senior High School Auditorium to share updates on private well sampling underway for PFAS contamination in Columbus, New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties.

The state previously ordered Chemours to test wells downstream from the company’s Fayetteville Works Facility in Bladen County and to provide alternate sources of drinking water for eligible homes. Out of nearly 4,000 residents’ wells that were examined, only a small percentage were found to be contaminated.

“All I see is that I’m poisoning them because they have no way to filter their water. They’re not putting our RO system on the will itself, which would seem to be the right thing to do. But they are putting it under my sinks,” Christine Jarvis, a Pender County resident, said.

DEQ staff also answered questions from the public about the private well sampling and alternate water supplies.

“So there’s the consent order that we talked to the Pender County residents about tonight, we’ve sent various correspondence letters to Chemour’s, directing them to do even more, especially in the lower Cape Fear region to include private wells sampling and additional measures at the plant to prevent these compounds from entering the environment,” Michael Scott, director of Waste Management with DEQ, said.

Residents who want to have their well sampled are asked to call Chemours at 910-678-1100.

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