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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

H2GO Candidate Endorsements Raise Questions

Dr. Detleff Knappe took issue with a flyer distributed by “Candidates For Water Choice” - Bill Beer, Brayton Willis and Don Yousey - hinting he supported their policy position. ";s:

Dr. Detlef Knappe, the N.C. State scientist who uncovered GenX and other compounds in the Cape Fear River, is not happy about being pulled into tomorrow’s election for the H2GO board. He explains why he’s upset about three candidates using his name in a political ad. 

A flyer distributed by “Candidates For Water Choice” - Bill Beer, Brayton Willis, and Don Yousey - uses a Detlef Knappe quotation which implies that he is supporting their policy position. The three are opposed to the reverse osmosis plant. The flier makes mention of Knappe’s support for under-the-sink RO systems.

Knappe says that is not accurate.

In an email to WHQR News on Sunday, the professor says he never said he supported under-sink reverse osmosis as a long-term solution. He added that he was not asked for permission to have his name used in a political advertisement, and had he been asked he would have said no.


On Monday, in an email, Brayton Willis said the group never stated that Knappe actually endorsed their candidacy in any way, and agreed to destroy the remaining flyers.

Meanwhile, the “Candidates for Water Choice” also claim the Brunswick County NAACP has endorsed their candidacy. However, Ronnie Jenkins, Vice Chairman of H2GO and a Member of Brunswick County NAACP, says there is no official endorsement of any H2GO candidate from the Brunswick County NAACP.