State court restores a key tool for North Carolina to limit toxic chemicals threatening nearly 1M people

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A state court ruled that North Carolina can limit 1,4-dioxane pollution to protect North Carolina families from toxic chemicals in drinking water—reversing an earlier administrative law court ruling. The cities of Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville sued to block limits on 1,4-dioxane, a cancer-causing chemical, but the recent decision restores the state’s ability to require pollution controls. The cities filed a motion to stay the court’s decision and an appeal of the court’s decision that are pending.

Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane pollution spiked after the lower court ruling to levels above 3,500 ppb, more than 160 times what is protective of downstream drinking water.  A map available here illustrates the communities threatened by the three cities’ 1,4-dioxane pollution and the nearly 1 million North Carolinians who drink water downstream. They include downstream Pittsboro, Chatham County, Sanford, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Brunswick County, and Pender County, as well as Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and other communities that have arranged to buy drinking water from Sanford. Greensboro itself receives some drinking water from Randleman Lake, downstream of other 1,4-dioxane sources.   

“The court confirmed that the law not only allows DEQ to protect our families from toxic 1,4-dioxane in our drinking water—it requires it,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville have spent years arguing for downstream communities to shoulder the health and monetary costs of the cities’ pollution. The Wake County Superior Court saw through the cities’ arguments and restored a key tool that can be used to protect families, communities, and drinking water utilities downstream.”  

In August 2023, DEQ issued a permit to Asheboro that limited the amount of 1,4-dioxane the city could release into the Deep River and downstream drinking water sources and the three cities filed suit.  Testing in 2015 identified Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville as largest sources of 1,4-dioxane pollution in North Carolina.

Because the cities’ wastewater plants do not remove the toxic chemical, they release their industrial customers’ 1,4-dioxane directly into rivers, contaminating downstream drinking water supplies. The cities have the authority and obligation under the Clean Water Act and state water quality laws to stop their industries from sending 1,4-dioxane pollution to their sewer systems—so that industrial polluters pay for treatment instead of communities downstream.

1,4-Dioxane is a manmade chemical that is harmful to people and has been linked to cancers and liver and kidney damage at extremely low levels. It cannot be removed by conventional drinking water technology.