Actor, Mark Ruffalo, star of the movie “Dark Waters” released in early 2020, has come to North Carolina to help put a spotlight on North Carolina communities struggling with PFAS.
From the News & Observer:
“During his visit to North Carolina, the actor will highlight that PFAS concerns are broader than the Wilmington area. Wednesday, Ruffalo is expected to visit Pittsboro, the Chatham County community where researchers have found elevated levels of PFAS compounds.
In a grant proposal, Duke University professors Heather Stapleton and Lee Ferguson reported they had found PFAS chemicals in the drinking water of every Triangle-area community. But in Pittsboro, the researchers wrote, levels were particularly high, on par with those of GenX contamination along the Cape Fear River — about 760 parts per trillion.
Since June 2019, the researchers have been taking samples at 13 points along the Haw River between Burlington and Jordan Lake, measuring for 13 different kinds of PFAS, Stapleton said recently. Researchers have homed in on the City of Burlington’s East Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant as a likely source of the PFAS to the Haw River, potentially from an industrial client whose wastewater the treatment plant carries.”