NC Judge Rules Against Against Clean Water in North Carolina

"Administrative Law Judge, Van der Vaart, strips North Carolina of a key tool used to limit toxic chemicals, threatening nearly 1M people" - Southern Environmental Law Center

Anti-environment Administrative Law Judge, Donald van der Vaart, has ruled against the interests of North Carolinians and in favor of polluters discharging toxic chemicals, like 1,4-dioxane.

This case began last year when NC DEQ set numeric 1,4-dioxane limits in the city of Asheboro’s permit, relying on its authority under the NC Toxic Substances Standard. This water quality standard states that any carcinogen cannot be released at levels that would exceed a 1-in-1 million cancer risk for exposed communities. For 1,4-dioxane, that level is 0.35 ug/l in drinking water supplies.

Van der Vaart ruled that NC DEQ did not have the authority to use this water quality standard to set permit limits, and instead, the agency must go through formal rulemaking procedures, including economic assessments, before setting limits in water pollution permits.

The decision eliminates a major tool the agency relied on to control toxic pollution and is even more disruptive given that our polluter friendly legislative majority and their appointed Environmental Management Commission have repeatedly delayed rulemaking efforts to control chemicals like 1,4-dioxane and PFAS.

Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville sued NC DEQ to argue that the economic burden that would be placed on their industrial customers is a greater concern than the health of our communities downstream. Van der Vaart’s ruling leaves over 1 million people in the Haw and Cape Fear river basins exposed to harmful toxic chemicals.  

The actions taken by Judge Van der Vaart, the Environmental Management Commission, and the NC General Assembly to dismantle NC DEQ’s ability to regulate the industrial toxins in our water further exemplifies why we have petitioned the EPA to step in and give NC DEQ the tools it needs to uphold the Clean Water Act. To read the SELC press release, click HERE.