UNCW scientist, class action lawyer warn long road ahead on GenX

WILMINGTON -- A local scientist warned Tuesday that the Wilmington region is just beginning to grasp the threat posed by GenX and similar chemicals.

"This is one of those onion-type mysteries where you peel back one layer and you find more, and you keep peeling and you find more," said Larry Cahoon, a University of North Carolina Wilmington biologist, warning that while the region's concern about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may have started with GenX, scientists have discovered several additional compounds they understand even less.

Both Cahoon and Ted Leopold, the lead attorney of a class action suit against Chemours, told an audience of about 100 people at Cape Fear Community College's Union Station that even now, nearly a year-and-a-half after the public first learned its drinking water was contaminated, the process of understanding and fixing the problems are still in their early days.

The science

Often, Cahoon said, greater understanding about a chemical leads scientists to conclude it is riskier than previously believed.

As an example, he pointed to C8, the chemical DuPont replaced with GenX because, it told regulators, the latter is safer. In a draft report earlier this year, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said the safe drinking water level for C8 should be 11 parts per trillion (ppt), not the current 70 ppt.

There is a lesson there, Cahoon warned for communities dealing with the replacement chemical, which currently has a state drinking water advisory level of 140 ppt.

"Our earliest assessments," Cahoon said, "are probably underestimates of what's really going on here, and we probably need to look at more stringent standards for things."

Cahoon also warned residents not to be comforted by the fact that a N.C. State team did not find GenX in samples taken from local blood, describing how scientists can physically take and sample much less blood than water, among other difficulties.

"Do not assume we don't have GenX in our bodies. I'll bet -- I only have a buck in my wallet -- but I'll bet more than that all of us got GenX in our bodies, we just can't see it, not in the blood samples," Cahoon said.

Another concern for Cahoon and other scientists is the four additional PFAS compounds the N.C. State team discovered at high concentrations in most Wilmington-area blood samples. Those substances were not present in two sets of older samples taken elsewhere in the country.

It is difficult, Cahoon said, to understand the impact little-understood chemicals have on the human body when mixed together to create even more-difficult-to-understand combinations.

"We're looking at a cocktail of compounds in real life. In the laboratory we tend to do these things one cocktail at a time," Cahoon said.

The law

Ted Leopold, a partner with law firm Cohen Millstein, also spoke at Tuesday's event. Leopold is the lead attorney in a class action lawsuit against Chemours and DuPont alleging Chemours and predecessor DuPont acted negligently and harmed property values, demanding the companies conduct remediation efforts at any contaminated properties and fund diagnostic testing for the early detection of illnesses potentially caused by the chemicals.

"The big moving part is the science. That's the key issue in these cases," Leopold said, "but the issue is corporate responsibility."

Earlier this year, contractors working on behalf of Cohen Millstein visited Chemours' Fayetteville Works plant to take water samples that were later tested for the presence of various chemicals. Those results, Leopold said, have been sealed at the request of Chemours and predecessor company DuPont.

"Each and every one of you in the community are entitled to know what's in those results," Leopold said.

Additionally, Leopold questioned the draft consent order agreed to between Chemours, the N.C. Department of Enviornmental Quality and Cape Fear River Watch on Thanksgiving Eve. The agreement, Leopold said, forces Chemours to provide protections for people around the plant while leaving customers of downstream utilities unprotected.

This week, Leopold plans to file what he called a "substantive report" describing in detail what the legal team believes should be fixed in the order and requesting the public comment period be extended by an additional 30 days. The order will not be final until approved by Bladen County Superior Court Judge Doug Sasser.

"There's a lot of information, with our consultants and our experts, that we want to let DEQ understand and appreciate and know about before a state judge signs off on that consent decree," Leopold said, adding, "This is a very good start, but it's a start."

Harper Peterson, a Democrat who won election last month to a N.C. Senate seat representing most of New Hanover by campaigning heavily on the GenX issue, spoke at the end of the meeting to make clear his goals once seated in Raleigh.

The remarks came shortly after a questioner asked whether North Carolina's Hardison Amendment, a rule preventing state regulators from creating an environmental rule that is more stringent than federal rules, would impact the results of ongoing litigation.

"My intent," Peterson said, "is to introduce legislation that will address all of our concerns with regards to these health issues, and that includes also the Hardison rule and any other constraints we have on you knowing you have clean, safe drinking water."

Reporter Adam Wagner can be reached at Adam.Wagner@GateHouseMedia.com.

How to comment

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality is accepting comments on the draft consent order between it, Cape Fear River Watch and Chemours until Dec. 21.

Comments can be emailed to comments.chemours@ncdenr.gov or physically mailed to:

Assistant Secretary's office, RE: Chemours Public Comments

1601 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-1601