Apollo Chemical is suspected source of 1,4-dioxane pollution in Haw River
Burlington officials confirmed Wednesday that Apollo Chemical is the suspected source of a recent industrial chemical discharge into the Haw River.
High levels of 1,4-dioxane, a probable carcinogen shown to cause liver and kidney damage, were released into the river from a Burlington municipal wastewater treatment plant on Sept. 14.
The river and its watershed provide drinking water to nearly one million people living in and near Greensboro, Burlington, Chapel Hill, Cary and Durham. Pittsboro’s drinking water intake is about 30 miles downstream of Burlington.
Burlington Water Resource Lab staff say they honed in on the chemical manufacturer as the source by testing water in the area serviced by the South Burlington Wastewater Treatment plant.
The recent discharge of 1,4-dioxane showed levels as much as 1,300 times the health advisory goal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made. It’s the second report this year of contamination of the toxic chemical in Pittsboro’s drinking water supply after sampling revealed high levels of 1,4-dioxane at Pittsboro’s intake and in the town’s finished drinking water.
Last week, the Burlington Water Resources Department said they informed state environmental officials and downstream sources of the recent discharge, as well as Aqua North Carolina, which purchases water from Pittsboro for about 800 customers in the area.
John Vernon, a spokesperson for Burlington, says staff has met with management at Apollo and is testing it's effluent daily. Test results since the Sept. 14 slug have been declining.
Apollo Chemical did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The industry is also reviewing its manufacturing process to identify if precursors in those processes are combining to form 1,4-dioxane in the effluent as an unintended by-product. While those samples are being tested, the water resources staff is continuing to investigate other sewer outfalls that service manufacturing,” Vernon said.
Traditional drinking water plants can’t remove the chemical without an expensive, advanced system that could cost tens of millions of dollars to upgrade.
Pittsboro is offering free reverse osmosis treated water to Pittsboro water customers and customers of Aqua NC who receive their water from the town of Pittsboro through Friday at 5p.m. at Chatham Marketplace, a grocery store at 480 Hillsboro St, Pittsboro, NC 27312 during regular hours. Customers can use code 64261 to fill jugs and bottles for free.The town encouraged customers to bring their own containers.
Colby Sawyer, a Pittsboro emergency management coordinator, says lower levels of 1,4-dioxane in raw water samples taken earlier this week indicate the slug of chemicals has passed the town's water intake.
She encourages Pittsboro residents to sign up for water alerts on the town's website.
A sample from South Burlington Wastewater taken on Sept. 22 was rush-tested and showed decreased levels of the chemical to below the EPA's health advisory goal. However, the levels are still above the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's in-stream target value for drinking water supplies.
“Water Resource staff expects effluent testing results to continue to decline,” Vernon said.
Burlington has ramped up testing after a recent settlement between the city and Haw River Assembly, a non-profit organization, requiring companies to better track and control forever chemicals, also known as PFAS.
“Burlington has the tools to regulate their industrial dischargers through their pretreatment program, through those permits and we're hopeful that they will use that same investigation process to identify the sources of 1,4-dioxane within their system,” said Emily Sutton the Haw Riverkeeper with the Haw River Assembly.
The settlement also requires new or expanding companies to disclose if and how they plan to use PFAS and 1,4-dioxane and how they will control contamination.
“It is our right to have safe, drinkable, fishable, swimmable water,” said Sutton.
