By Taylor Heeden, Chatham News + Record Staff
Greensboro city officials alerted Pittsboro town staff and commissioners to another accidental discharge of 1,4-Dioxane — a chemical the Environmental Protection Agency deems a likely human carcinogen — into the Haw River on Wednesday afternoon.
This comes five months after a similar discharge in November, which ultimately led to contaminated water found in Pittsboro’s water storage tanks.
Greensboro Water Reclamation Manager Elijah Williams emailed an extensive list of Pittsboro staff, elected officials and water quality activists Wednesday morning, warning of elevated levels of the chemical compound appearing to come from the Patton Trunkline, one of several that feed the wastewater treatment plant.
“The City of Greensboro received laboratory data today at 11:51 a.m. that indicated the T. Z. Osborne (TZO) (wastewater treatment plant) effluent grab sample taken on Tuesday, April 5 at 7:20 a.m. had a 1,4-Dioxane concentration of 52.2 micrograms per liter,” Williams said.
These levels exceed the 35-micrograms-per-liter limit established in the Special Order of Consent between Greensboro and the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality.
Following protocol, Greensboro officials alerted NCDEQ and municipalities downstream, requesting more samples be taken in the following days to monitor 1,4-Dioxane concentration levels.
Greensboro also asked Shamrock Environmental, a waste management and tank wash service located near the source of the discharge, to test its pipes for 1,4-Dioxane levels and conduct a formal review of last week’s operations. It is unknown if the company is suspected of discharging the chemical at this time.
The slug could take days to reach Pittsboro, town manager Chris Kennedy said during the town commissioners’ budget workshop on Thursday.
Kennedy sent a press release on Friday afternoon, where he provided more information regarding the latest 1,4-Dioxane discharge.
“The most current sampling information received by the Town reports the Patton Trunkline in Greensboro had a 1,4 Dioxane concentration level of 95.1 ug/L from its April 4 sample collection date,” Kennedy wrote.
In the same release, Kennedy revealed multiple industries have been asked to review their facilities and their weekly composite water results. The companies include Ecolab, Elastic Fabrics, Lanxess, Precision Fabrics and Vertellus.
Kennedy warned residents to be wary of this discharge as the town’s water supply may exceed the health advisory limit in the following days. According to the press release, Pittsboro has sent out water samples and is currently awaiting results.
“The Town will continue to monitor the situation with additional precautionary sampling,” Kennedy said, “and we will continue to discuss remedies with NCDEQ and the City of Greensboro.”
This is a breaking story. The News + Record will update as information is made available.
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