The city of Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant discharged unusually high levels of a likely carcinogen into waters that flow into the Cape Fear River.
The discharge of 1,4-dioxane went into Hasketts Creek, which drains to the Deep River within the Cape Fear River Basin. According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, it’s the highest discharge level in the past six years.
SELC says Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane discharges at the end of January reached levels 10,000 times the cancer risk level for the chemical, and 160 times the cap DEQ had set for the wastewater treatment plant.
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority found out about the discharge earlier this week. Cammie Bellamy is a spokesperson for CFPUA, and said the utility has been monitoring the levels ever since.
“We're very lucky that we have existing treatment technologies in place that are very effective, and we feel that those technologies will continue to be effective even with this larger amount in the water," Bellamy said.
Still, Bellamy said it’s always best to prevent contamination at the source. CFPUA intends to keep monitoring the contaminant levels over the next few weeks as the contaminant flushes out of the waterways.
