CFPUA says customers can now turn on their faucets and take a drink with full confidence — 100% of the drinking water being filtered at the Sweeny Plant contains no detectable PFAS as of last Tuesday.
The plants expanded Granulated Active Carbon, or GAC, filters are fully online and have filtered out PFAS successfully, according to CFPUA’s latest water test results.
The energy at the plant was high, and bubbling with excitement. CFPUA Board Chair Jennifer Adams called on everyone to make a toast, with glasses full of fresh drinking water filtered at the plant.
“Here's to all of you, to our customers and the community, to the staff that's EPA and everyone involved in this important project for all you've done for this community. And you continue to make things better for our community as well," she said.
The process started in 2017, when StarNews published the news that Chemours was dumping PFAS into the Cape Fear River. Since not much was known about PFAS at the time, local leaders and elected officials were unsure of how to proceed.
In 2019, CFPUA conceived of using the GAC filters, but it would take years of research, design, and construction.
Many local leaders and politicians were in attendance, speaking on the work that had gone into the project, and also reassuring those in the Cape Fear community that they would continue to hold Chemours accountable for their pollution.
As Mayor Bill Saffo told the community:
“And the work as I said does not end here. We will hold the polluters accountable for what they have costed this community. This was not an easy and cheap fix. This was a very expensive fix, over 40-some million dollars. And we intend to collect every dime of that”
