A North Carolina community is livid as its city allegedly refuses to control discharges of a toxic chemical into its drinking water.
What’s happening?
Community members in Asheboro, North Carolina, spoke out at a recent Environmental Protection Agency hearing about the town’s 1,4-dioxane problem, Inside Climate News reported.
This industrial solvent and likely human carcinogen is being dumped into the Upper Cape Fear River Basin by the city’s wastewater treatment plant, polluting the drinking water of 900,000 people downstream. ICN added that research has found that the state has some of the highest levels of 1,4-dioxane in the country.
While some local towns have taken action to reduce their 1,4-dioxane discharges, Asheboro community members and activists say Asheboro has refused. Previously, the city challenged the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s authority to include a 1,4-dioxane water quality limit in its wastewater permit. While a state administrative judge voided this limitation, the EPA sent an objection letter supporting the state’s permit and inviting anyone to request a public hearing…