Home Care In Haw River, NC

BURLINGTON, N.C. – It’s the Year of the Trail in North Carolina, and for Nolan Carter it's a time of opportunity.

Carter is the Haw River Trail coordinator for Alamance Parks, and he says it’s a job he fully enjoys.

“This is truly, really my dream job, just being out here on the trails, helping build them, helping design them, acquire new property so that we can continue expanding on what we have,” Carter said.

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Right now, expansion is the name of the game for the Haw River Trail.

The trail is about 24 miles, and there’s a plan to expand that to about 80 miles, connecting five counties and Jordan Lake to Haw River State Park.

“Conserving these areas is vital because it's much easier to do now than once there are houses on them,” Carter said. “That way it's preserved for the future generations to enjoy and have that green escape from the busyness of everyday life.”

That work should get a little easier thanks to a state law that went into effect this summer.

The law allows the Haw River Trail to become a state trail, which Carter says means more funding and more exposure.

They’re already expanding the trail with a new section, and Carter says this law shows just how far the Haw River and its reputation have come in recent decades.

He says it was seen “as a polluted area that nobody wanted to be in because of the textile mills. But it's really transformed to a place that you can recreate, that you can, you can paddle, that you can swim, that you can hike along, that you can camp along.”

Carter spends his days thinking about the trail and how to make sure it lasts for decades to come. He isn’t alone, however.

Carter says the trail got here because of landowners, volunteers and the local government that partnered to make this a reality.

Now, that work can go to the next level.

“It means a lot. It really, it's always great to have the support of the state behind us and to know that they, they see the value in this and in protecting this for future generations as well," Carter said. "It's so beneficial for all of us.”

For more information on the expansion, click here.

Elevate Textiles, one of the city’s industrial customers, agrees into install new technology, phase out use of compound in some production lines

Levels of toxic PFAS in Burlington’s wastewater have decreased more than 6,000% over the past three years and are expected to decline further, the result of a settlement agreement between the City and the Haw River Assembly finalized this week.

The agreement requires Burlington ensure its current and future industrial sources control PFAS discharges before they enter the city’s treatment plants or the Haw River, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represented the Haw River Assembly. The agreement requires new and expanding industrial sources to disclose their use or discharge of PFAS. It also requires the city and its industrial sources to conduct extensive sampling using the latest methods to detect all PFAS, including precursor chemicals that degrade into measurable PFAS. This data will be available to the public on the city’s webpage.

Exposure to even very low levels of PFAS, short for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, has been linked to multiple health problems, including thyroid and liver disorders, kidney and testicular cancers, immune system deficiencies, obesity, high cholesterol, and reproductive and fetal development problems. There at least 12,000 types of PFAS, and they are found in water-, stain-, and grease-resistant products, like furniture, carpeting, clothing, microwave popcorn bags and fast-food packaging. PFAS are also found in AFFF firefighting foam.

The Haw River has long been a dumping ground for PFAS pollution from upstream textile and manufacturing industries, Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton said.

“This agreement is a huge win for a cleaner, safer Haw River and downstream communities,” said Kelly Moser, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a prepared statement. “Now that we know the industrial sources of the PFAS in Burlington’s discharges, the city will take—and require its industrial sources to take—significant measures to prevent future pollution while reporting its results to the public.”

The City will also perform sampling to characterize the contribution of PFAS and other chemicals from residential customers. The City and the Haw River Assembly will continue to share sampling results, which Burlington will continue to post to its website.

A spokesperson for the City of Burlington called the agreement a “win-win for the City and HRA as well as the citizens of North Carolina residing in the Haw River watershed.”

In November 2019, the Haw River Assembly notified Burlington officials that it intended to sue over the illegal discharges of PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane, a probable carcinogen. Although PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane aren’t regulated in drinking water by the EPA or the state, the SELC argued the compounds are subject to provisions of the Clean Water Act, which covers rivers, streams and lakes.

In 2020, the parties formalized a memorandum of agreement that required Burlington to investigate potential sources of PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane that were discharging into the City’s wastewater treatment plants. The East plant, which was later found to be receiving PFAS in wastewater from industry, discharges directly into the Haw River, the drinking water supply for the Town of Pittsboro.

The South plant, which has issues with 1,4-Dioxane, discharges into Big Alamance Creek, a tributary of the Haw.

Burlington contracted with a third-party to investigate the sources of PFAS; the Haw River Assembly enlisted Duke University scientists to analyze the wastewater and identify the types of PFAS it contained.

The City pinpointed one of its industrial customers, Elevate Textiles, as its largest source of PFAS. The new settlement agreement requires the company to install a closed-loop system to capture contaminated wastewater from its production lines that make medical and military products. The new system will keep PFAS from entering Burlington’s sewer system.

Although those products require the use of PFAS, Elevate Textiles has started phasing out its use of the compounds for its other products, according to the SELC. That phase-out will be complete by June 15, 2025.

There are other known sources of PFAS that discharge to the Burlington wastewater treatment plants, including the textile manufacturer Shawmut Corporation. That company and future industrial customers will also be prohibited from discharging PFAS. (Unichem Specialty Chemicals reported it stopped production as of June 30.)

The Alamance County Landfill and the Republic Landfill are also PFAS sources. Leachate — liquid from the landfill that is collected in tanks — is sent to wastewater treatment plants. However, that leachate often contains PFAS from the disposal of consumer products. When rain falls on the landfill, it carries contaminants to the leachate system.

Reducing the amount of PFAS entering the wastewater treatment plant addresses another problem: biosolids. Utilities often contract with companies to haul off the sludge, which is then spread on agricultural fields as fertilizer. When it rains, the PFAS in the biosolids can seep into the groundwater, contaminating nearby wells — or run off the property and into creeks.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality regulates wastewater treatment plants, but the municipalities regulate their own industrial users. That arrangement can create a conflict because cities and counties depend in part on fees paid by those industries to discharge into the plants. In effect, utilities can be held economically hostage by industry, who can choose not to expand or locate in an area, and instead seek laxer regulations elsewhere.

Last week, Burlington’s South wastewater treatment plant discharged a slug of 1,4-Dioxane that measured 160 parts per billion into Big Alamance Creek — far above the state’s recommended level of 0.35 ppb for surface water. By the time the compound entered Pittsboro’s drinking water supply, concentrations downstream had been diluted to 11.9 ppb. The EPA has not established a maximum level of 1,4-Dioxane in drinking water, but has set a health advisory goal of 35 ppb. However, that level is far less protective than the goal set for the chemical in rivers and streams. Since traditional water treatment systems can’t remove the compound, utilities can’t achieve the more protective goal.

The recent incident was “a dramatic spike from previous levels reported by the city to Haw River Assembly,” according to the SELC, which ranged from less than one to a high of 14 parts per billion. “The investigation developed by SELC, Haw River Assembly, and the city to identify the city’s PFAS sources lays the groundwork for the city’s investigation into the source of the recent spike of 1,4-dioxane,” the SELC wrote.

That investigation is ongoing.

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For a second day, Alamance County fire crews responded to the Carolina Mill along Haw River, as hotspots from the prior day flared back up. A blaze on Nov. 25 destroyed the historic structure located at 2058 Carolina Mill Road. Vehicle traffic on both Carolina Mill Road and Carolina Road was impacted.

The Carolina Mill incident follows the Culp Weaving Plant fire in Graham as the second mill in Alamance County to catch fire this month. The Carolina Mill was a former cotton mill which was built in 1869.

A caller reported a fire inside the Carolina Mill at roughly 4:03 a.m. on Nov. 25, and the mill was fully engulfed in flames by the time fire crews were on scene — according to Chief Jimmy Westbrook from the Faucette Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Twelve fire departments from across Alamance County, including those from Graham and Burlington, responded to assist crews from the Faucette Township Volunteer Fire Department. Westbrook said at the height of the response, around 75 people were on scene.

“It was all a defensive attack … we couldn't get close to the building because of the unstable building, so we just fought the fire from the air,” Westbrook said.

The size of the fire and severity of structural instability required firefighters to utilize aerial ladder trucks to fight the fire, as opposed to entering the building.

Westbrook said fire crews still have concerns around the structural stability of the building, as a temporary fence has been put around it. Westbrook estimated that around one million gallons of water have been used on the building to put the fire out. The blaze reduced the structure to a shell, with mainly only the outer walls remaining.

According to Westbrook, while the main part of the fire was extinguished on Nov. 25, some rekindling of hot spots within the building required fire crews to respond again to put out remaining flames on Nov. 26.

“We had a whole lot of leftover heavy timber inside the structure,” Westbrook said. “I’m real tired, I hate to come back today but it rekindled and we had open flames — we had to do something.”

The Alamance County Fire Marshall is still investigating the cause of the Carolina Mill fire.

UPDATE 1/31/24 at 7 p.m.: The Alamance County Sheriff's Office confirmed the body recovered in Travis Creek is that of Antwain Demar McDaniel. The medical examiner arrived on the scene and approved transport at approximately 6:10 p.m. The family has been notified.

Human remains have been found during the search for a missing man, according to deputies with the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.

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Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Terry Johnson said authorities found a body in the water. There was a piece of clothing spotted in the water first, Johnson said. He said deputies felt like it was attached to a body.

This was off the Durham Street Extension, around 50 yards on the Travis Creek Bridge.

Johnson said the direction in which the creek was going down allowed searchers to see the clothing. He noted that the water will also affect a body greatly, especially if the body has been there for a while.

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Antwain McDaniel, 19, had been missing since Sunday. He and other suspects had been last seen in the same area. Read about that story here.

After the remains were spotted around 4:20 p.m. on Jan. 31, divers went to retrieve the body.

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Seventy-five people assisted in this investigation, according to deputies.

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The City of Burlington’s south wastewater treatment plant released toxic 1,4-Dioxane into the Haw River, test results show, and the contamination reached Pittsboro’s drinking water supply.

The Town of Pittsboro issued a press release at 9:30 Thursday night, reporting that on Monday the chemical was detected in treated drinking water at 11.9 parts per billion. The EPA has not established a maximum level of 1,4-Dioxane in drinking water, but has set a health advisory goal of 35 ppb. However, that level is far less protective than the goal set for the chemical in rivers and streams, which is just 0.35 ppb.

Since traditional drinking water treatment can’t remove 1,4-Dioxane, it’s difficult for utilities without expensive advanced systems to meet the 0.35 ppb goal.

“It appears that a significant quantity of 1,4 dioxane was released into the Burlington wastewater treatment system and discharged into the Haw River before routine testing could indicate the presence of the substance in their discharge,” Colby Sawyer, Pittsboro’s public information officer wrote.

1,4-Dioxane is a “probable” carcinogen, according to federal health authorities.

The City of Burlington released the slug of 1,4-Dioxane into the Haw River about a week earlier than it arrived in Pittsboro. On July 17, testing showed the concentration of 1,4-Dioxane leaving the Burlington south plant was 160 ppb. A day later, the level had decreased to 86.9 ppb, and by July 19, it was 57.8 ppb.

“When a release of this type occurs, most of the substance flows downstream together,” Sawyer wrote. “The dilution and speed of travel of this bulked substance, or slug, is based on how fast and at what volume the river is flowing.”

Burlington is 30 miles upstream of Pittsboro.

The chemical entered Burlington’s wastewater treatment plant via one of the City’s industrial customers, although that company has not been publicly identified.

In 2020, the Haw River Assembly, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the City of Burlington reached a memorandum of agreement to identify sources of 1,4-Dioxane and to reduce its discharge.

Treated water recently taken from the Haw had higher levels of the chemical than water in holding tanks, which were below 2 ppb.

Test samples taken in Pittsboro on Wednesday indicate that the concentration of 1,4 dioxane in the Town’s finished water continues to decrease. That indicates the slug of 1,4-Dioxane “has likely already passed the Town’s water intake, meaning that concentrations will continue to decrease,” according to Sawyer.

However Pittsboro’s water treatment plant is drawing only the minimally required amounts from the Haw to keep the water system functional. The town is encouraging water customers within, or serviced by, the Town of Pittsboro to conserve water by reducing or eliminating non-essential water uses. These uses include landscape irrigation, washing vehicles and houses, filling pools.

“These water conservation measures are voluntary actions our customers can take to assist our water plant staff; there is no danger of losing the Town’s water supply,” Sawyer wrote.