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An upstream wastewater facility released record levels of a toxic chemical into the drinking water supply of the tri-county region after a judge voided discharge limits. The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is urging Congress to stop the EPA from requiring North Carolina to regulate the compound.(Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. \u2014\u00a0As the region continues to reel from PFAS reaching its water supply, another chemical threatens the Cape Fear River. <\/p>\n
Port City Daily\u2019s coverage in February about an\u00a0upstream wastewater facility releasing record levels of 1,4 dioxane into the drinking water supply ranks the second most read story of 2025. <\/p>\n
The City of Asheboro\u2019s 1,4-dioxane pollution surged at the beginning of the year \u2014 reaching a record concentration of 3,520 parts per billion on Jan. 24 \u2014 following Chief Administrative Law Judge Donald van der Vaart\u2019s decision to stop regulation of Asheboro\u2019s permit limits in September. Asheboro\u2019s discharges flow downstream into the Cape Fear River area, a region with some of the highest 1,4-dioxane discharges in the country.<\/p>\n
1,4 dioxane is a synthetic, clear liquid \u2014 a solvent utilized in industrial processes, often found as a byproduct in shampoos, detergents, cosmetics, paints, adhesives and more. The chemical doesn\u2019t break down easily and exposure can impact risks for kidney and liver damage and potentially cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Department of Environmental Quality employed narrative standards as the basis for 1,4-dioxane conditions in Asheboro, Reidsville, and Greensboro\u2019s discharge permits. Van der Vaart\u2019s ruling disputed DEQ\u2019s use of narrative standards and found 1,4-dioxane regulation would require the implementation of a statewide rule.<\/p>\n
The Environmental Protection Agency sent a Jan. 3 letter to the Department of Environmental Quality determining the judge inaccurately interpreted the Clean Water Act in his ruling. The EPA directed North Carolina to include 1,4-dioxane limits in Asheboro\u2019s permit within 90 days or forfeit its enforcement authority to the federal government.<\/p>\n
But the largest lobbying group in the state criticized the EPA\u2019s 1,4-dioxane directive as \u201cegregious overreach\u201d that would negatively impact businesses and communities.\u00a0 The North Carolina Chamber sent Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) a Jan. 22 letter urging him to use his legislative authority to stop the EPA from intervening in the state\u2019s 1,4-dioxane dispute.<\/p>\n
Catch up on the full piece below.<\/p>\n At Port City Daily, we aim to keep locals informed on top-of-mind news facing the tri-county region. To support our work and help us reach more people in 2026, please, consider helping one of two ways: Subscribe\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0or make a one-time contribution\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n We appreciate your ongoing support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An upstream wastewater facility released record levels of a toxic chemical into the drinking water supply of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":483775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[746,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-483774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115817561692144637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}