Public health

Former Wilmington mayor: ‘I think we shouldn’t be drinking the water.’

State lawmakers tackling pollution issues heard a shocking claim Thursday from the man who used to lead one of North Carolina’s largest cities.

“People ask me constantly, ‘Is the water safe to drink?’” former Wilmington Mayor Harper Peterson told lawmakers during a hearing on water pollution . “And I can’t answer that. I take a precautionary approach, and I think we all should. I think we shouldn’t be drinking the water.”

Wilmington is downstream of the Fayetteville Works plant run by Chemours (formerly by DuPont), which has for years been discharging a chemical called GenX into the Cape Fear River that serves as the main source of drinking water for southeastern North Carolina. Chemours and DuPont split a $670 million settlement earlier this year over health complaints from people exposed to a chemical similar in makeup to GenX, called C8.

The companies have said GenX is safer; no public studies have so far linked it to serious health risks in humans, although it is largely untested aside from some experiments on lab animals that have linked it to health problems […]

Recent Posts

Hawaiʻi’s Corals Were Struggling To Survive. Then Came The Mud Floods

Coral reefs already face a litany of threats. Experts say storm runoff from the recent…

1 month ago

What’s Eating Iowa?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xqa0B9r7Y8 Iowa water: Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen and award-winning cinematographer Jerry Risius have teamed…

5 months ago

Invisible Threats: Understanding Water Contaminants in the U.S.

Clean water is essential for life, yet millions of Americans unknowingly consume contaminants through their…

1 year ago

High levels of microplastics in human brains appear to be increasing

Human brains contain higher concentrations of microplastics than other organs, according to a new study, and the…

1 year ago

California: executive order to help capture and store more water from severe storms

From the Office of the Governor: In anticipation of a multi-day, significant atmospheric river in Northern California,…

1 year ago

Experts give the real facts on California water

From Governor Newsom: Scientists, water managers, state leaders, and experts throughout the state are calling…

1 year ago