PITTSBORO — Town commissioners began and ended Monday night’s meeting with closed sessions, discussing matters of attorney-client privilege and narrowing down candidates for town manager, but water quality still remained top of mind.
Reed Barton, an associate environmental engineer with CDM Smith, provided an update to the board on the Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) system at Pittsboro’s water treatment plant. Pittsboro’s raw water supply comes from the Haw River, in which PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and 1,4-Dioxane contaminants have been found.
The GAC system, which went online on Aug. 25, is the first phase of addressing PFAS contamination in the town’s drinking water. The system initially faced delays in starting operations because of supply chain issues and a holdup in the construction schedule. Barton described the system as using an absorption process through the activated carbon, similar to a magnet, holding onto the PFAS chemicals and other contaminants that could be in the water.
On Oct. 4, the town received the second set of water test results following the installation of the advanced filtration system; results reached and exceeded the 90% PFAS removal target for which the system was designed.
“So that is great results and that’s the results I’m expecting to see every day,” Barton said.
Barton said the town is pursuing state revolving fund grants and loans to expand the PFAS system. Its GAC system has a capacity of 1.5 million gallons a day, based on funds the town was able to commit at the time, Barton said. The goal is to expand the system to 2 million gallons a day.
The town is also looking for funding for an ultraviolet system aimed at removing 1,4-Dioxane, which would add a second advanced treatment process at the plant. Barton said the town should hear back on grant funding in February. When the GAC begins to diminish in its ability to treat water, Barton also said the town will order replacement activated carbon and that a replacement could be necessary after six months or less.
The board also recognized Chatham Marketplace for its service to the town in providing filtered water to residents while Pittsboro waited for the completion of the advanced treatment project at the town’s water treatment plant. The free water program at Chatham Marketplace ended when the GAC system was brought online.
Between December 2021 and September 2022, Chatham Marketplace distributed 46,819 gallons of filtered water through 7,410 transactions, according to the resolution memo. Evan Diamond, the general manager of Chatham Marketplace, was present at the meeting to accept the recognition on behalf of the co-operative business.
Though commissioners heard updates positive in nature regarding Pittsboro’s water issues, Jennifer Platt, a Pittsboro resident, also spoke virtually during the public comments section of the meeting, expressing concerns about the results of N.C. State University’s GenX Exposure Study.
The study, which began in November 2017, is focused on examining the impacts of PFAS exposure on human health, collecting samples from communities along the Cape Fear River Basin. Of the more than 1,000 study participants, 206 residents from Pittsboro provided blood samples a year ago that were assessed for PFAS levels.
Platt said most participants got their results last week; scientists leading the study gave a webinar presentation outlining blood PFAS results on Oct. 18, which is available online at genxstudy.ncsu.edu/communicating-results/community-meetings/.
Of the three areas surveyed, Pittsboro residents were found to have the highest median levels of each compound in their blood.
“I, who have worked so hard to reduce my exposures, drinking safe water, filtered water, and being super careful, my levels were high as well,” Platt said.
Thousands of chemicals fall into the PFAS category; the chemicals can be found in products such as nonstick cookware, waterproof jackets, food packaging and firefighting foam. Many PFAS chemicals remain a concern because they don’t break down in the environment and can bioaccumulate in wildlife, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention factsheet.
Though human health effects are still being determined, associated issues include liver and thyroid cancer and toxicity to the immune system, N.C. State’s Center for Environmental and Health Effects of PFAS says on its website.
Platt acknowledged that the town has made progress with the water treatment plant and installation of the GAC system, but was apprehensive about the ability of Sanford’s water utility to keep up with treatment processes, in reference to the Sanford-Pittsboro water system merger.
“It would be same song, different verse,” Platt said. “And I just wanted to say that we really need to continue exerting pressure on the upstream dischargers.”
The board also voted 4-1 to extend the town’s contract with GFL Environmental Inc. for solid waste collection, transportation and disposal for two years, unchanged with no additions to service, per a motion from Commissioner John Bonitz.
Commissioner Kyle Shipp, the dissenting vote, expressed concerns about continuing to “kick the can down the road,” pointing out that the board has discussed the contract at four meetings prior to Monday night’s session.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to improve the services that we offer citizens,” Shipp said.
The original amendment that commissioners planned to vote on at the meeting would have changed the recycling container size from 65 gallons to 95 gallons, serviced every other week. The recycling rate would have changed from $2.85 per container to $3.75 per container. The amendment also included an item about yard waste collection that would add a service every other week with a 95-gallon container for $2.48 per container, taking place on the non-recycle service week.
Bonitz said he’s sympathetic to Commissioner Jay Farrell’s concerns about the original amendment — Farrell had made clear he was not in favor of increasing the gallon size and adding the yard waste collection at the beginning of the board’s discussion — and said he doesn’t feel like town is in a place to increase rates at the moment.
“I think all of us are tired of talking about this, and I think that we’ve got so much on our plates right now, I don’t feel like even the extent that we have talked about it, we’ve given it proper deference and attention,” Bonitz said. “And I think in two years we’re going to be in a much better situation to evaluate it. Perhaps at that point, we won’t have utilities on our plate and we’ll have greater comfort to dive deeper into things like this and seek to maximize recycling, maximize waste reduction, and perhaps minimize costs on ratepayers.”
• After meeting in closed session for nearly two hours, the board narrowed down candidates for a permanent town manager to 15 individuals. The manager is expected to be publicly announced by January.
• Public Information Officer and Emergency Manager Colby Sawyer was recognized by the board for his service to the town and for receiving the designation of Certified Emergency Manager earlier this year. Sawyer earned the designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers, which the resolution memo states is the highest honor of professional achievement from the group and that Sawyer displayed “a high level of competence and ethical fitness for emergency management.”
• Three members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 93 all with the same first name and jokingly referred to as the “Brayden Bunch” — Brayden Cabe, Brayden Ritchea, Brayden Spacek — led the pledge of allegiance Monday. Troop 93 celebrated its 75th anniversary earlier in October.
• Commissioner James Vose was approved by the board to serve as town representative to the Chatham Chamber of Commerce.
• As part of the consent agenda, the board approved several items, including the town’s financial reports from June and July and a budget amendment for a grant addressing the condition of the sewer collection system. The Find It-Fix It Sewer Rehabilitation project was awarded $4,450,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the Division of Water Infrastructure at the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality in May. The program is funded in full through reimbursement, so initial payment must be provided by the town.
• Commissioners also approved five members of the town’s Board of Adjustment and one alternative member; board members who live in extraterritorial jurisdiction areas will need to be approved by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners at their next meeting.
The board will next meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center.
Reporter Maydha Devarajan can be reached at mdevarajan@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @maydhadevarajan.