New Hanover County leaders are set to consider applying for a grant to extend two Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) water lines into a Castle Hayne neighborhood with wells contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
A resolution of support for an emerging contaminants grant application will go before the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners at its meeting on Monday. The application requests $2.1 million to fund the full amount of extending two CFPUA water lines into the Garden Place neighborhood in Castle Hayne, according to the meeting’s agenda.
In Garden Place, “private wells have shown high levels of contamination, though few parcels are eligible for Chemours-funded mitigation,” the agenda states.
“This neighborhood is one of several areas that have been identified as a priority for water line extensions through CFPUA’s prioritization efforts, based on high PFAS levels and funding opportunities.”
PFAS are chemicals that have polluted the drinking water supply across the Cape Fear region for several years. The contamination of the Cape Fear River basin likely originated in the Fayetteville Works plant manufacturing Chemours and DuPont chemicals about 100 miles upriver from Wilmington, according to CFPUA officials. Studies are still being done to determine how PFAS impacts human health through prolonged exposure.
County and CFPUA leaders have worked to address contamination issues in unincorporated parts of New Hanover County, especially for those not covered by a 2019 Chemours consent order, which provided affected citizens with private well sampling and drinking water replacements.
Local leaders have tried to address the contamination issues by providing new water stations for residents, offering residential hook-ups for homes adjacent to existing water lines and looking for funding for water line extensions.
New Hanover County and CFPUA have several ongoing projects to extend water lines into unserved parts of the county.
Earlier this month, for example, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners approved an application for a $3 million Community Development Block Grant – Infrastructure to extend water services to the Scotts Hill.
In July, CFPUA was awarded two grants totaling $3.2 million from the EPA’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities. The money will go toward extending water mains to the Rockhill Road and Alandale communities in the Wrightsboro and Castle Hayne areas.
The Garden Place neighborhood is one of several areas CFPUA has identified as a priority for water line extensions. The line extension would serve 53 homes in the area.
The prioritization process uses a health-based PFAS scoring method also used by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, which prioritizes areas with high levels of groundwater contamination and takes into account the economically disadvantaged status of a community.
A CFPUA spokesperson noted that the utility authority generally does not extend water or sewer services into existing neighborhoods.
"However, given the magnitude and spread of PFAS contamination in privately owned groundwater wells in many parts of our community, leadership from CFPUA and New Hanover County have partnered to identify funding opportunities for special projects to extend CFPUA water to more parts of our county," the spokesperson wrote in an email to the Business Journal.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality administers the Emerging Contaminants grant. New Hanover County is applying for the grant because the program limits the funding one entity can receive. CFPUA has already received state funding for other PFAS-related water extension projects this year.
If the grant isn’t received, the Garden Place neighborhood will remain a prioritized area for CFPUA.
