No timeline for public water at two Cumberland County schools

Ron Ross often picks up his grandson Anthony from Alderman Road Elementary where students have been avoiding water fountains for years.

"I'm scared," Ross' grandson Anthony Tatro said about the school's water. "It has chemicals and we cannot drink it."

The fifth grader, along with more than 600 classmates, have been drinking bottled water after concerns that the schools' well water was unsafe.

Less than six miles away, Chemours' Fayetteville Works plant had been leaching toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil for decades. In recent years, thousands of well owners in the area discovered their drinking water contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been linked to serious health issues, including cancer and developmental problems.

"Every young person has a right to go to school, to feel safe, and if you can't drink out of the water fountain, you cant feel safe," Ross said.

Both schools were tested for PFAS compounds in 2019. The combined PFAS level for the water at Gray's Creek Elementary surpassed 10 parts per trillion, qualifying the school for bottled water supplied from Chemours as part of a 2019 consent agreement between the chemical company and the Department of Environmental Quality. The level at Alderman Road Elementary was below that threshold, but school officials said they moved to bottled water at the school's expense out of an abundance of caution.

"It's ridiculous that the taxpayers are having to foot the bill," Ross said. "And why was the last test four years ago?"

Kevin Coleman, the associate superintendent of Cumberland County schools (CCS) said plans are underway to retest. "Tests are conducted through a third party and we do not have a timetable for retesting at this time," Coleman said.

In 2020, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners allocated $10.5 million to run water lines to the Gray’s Creek district, including the two impacted schools. but in the three years since, little progress has been made.

Cumberland County's public information director Brian Haney did not answer direct questions about the delay and declined interview requests with commissioners.

In a written statement, Cumberland County attorney Rick Moorefield said the county was unable to obtain a bulk water purchase agreement from Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC) and has shifted to finding an alternative water source to serve the Gray's Creek water and sewer district.

"The timeline for the development of the water source and distribution system may depend on the progress of our litigation with Chemours," said Moorefield.

Cumberland County filed a lawsuit against Chemours on March 18, 2022 to cover the costs of cleaning up PFAS pollution, but litigation is likely to stretch on for years.

In the meantime, CCS says it plans to continue to provide students with bottled water.

"These commissioners need to follow through on what they said they were going to do," Ross said.