State awards Greensboro $3 million toward $120 million PFAS removal project

The State of North Carolina has awarded Greensboro $3,000,000 to support upgrades at the Mitchell Water Treatment Plant off Battleground Avenue, city officials said, money described as part of a broader $120,000,000 effort to remove PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," from the municipal drinking supply. Governor Josh Stein announced nearly half a billion dollars in statewide water infrastructure funding that includes allocations for Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

City staff say construction on Mitchell is expected to begin in the spring, while the Greensboro Water Resources Department separately proposed a $2,700,000 project with the Haskell Company that WXII12 reported would run over the next five years to replace existing carbon filters and build more contactors, or areas where water is properly filtered, to meet safe standards. Reporting did not specify how the $3,000,000 allocation relates to the $2,700,000 Haskell Company proposal.

Federal regulatory changes are driving the upgrades. The Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 finalized legally enforceable drinking water limits for PFOS and PFOA at 4 parts per trillion, down from a long-standing advisory level of 70 parts per trillion. Greensboro’s most recent PFOS test measured 29 parts per trillion, a level the reporting notes is more than seven times the new federal limit, and new EPA standards require compliance by April 2029.

Greensboro already uses powdered activated carbon in its treatment process, and city materials describe that carbon as acting like a magnet that binds PFAS and helps remove them from water. A WFMY video transcript described a machine that "pumps in a powdered activated carbon. It acts like a magnet, pulling the Forever Chemicals out of the water and settling at the bottom of the tank." City staff told WXII12 that after a year-long pilot study the Water Resources Department "realized there is still work to be done removing harmful micro contaminants."

Scott Jewell, Water Supply Manager for Greensboro Water Resources Department, told WXII12 he drinks the city's tap water: "I drink the tap water within the city because I am confident in their ability to track water quality." At the same time, reporting quoted an unnamed speaker in a WFMY video saying, "3 million is small, but like I said, every little bit helps. So, we're very much thankful," reflecting local officials' view that the allocation is a start within a larger program.

Public health context in the coverage notes PFAS were once used in non-stick cookware, grease-resistant food packaging such as popcorn bags, waterproof clothing, and firefighting foam, and that research has linked long-term exposure to some PFAS to liver and kidney problems and increased risks of certain cancers including breast, prostate, and testicular cancers.

Reporting documents several outstanding details that city and state officials have not yet tied together in public materials: the precise relationship between the $3,000,000 state allocation and the $2,700,000 Haskell Company proposal, confirmation of whether the Mitchell plant reference is to "Mitchell Water Treatment Plant off Battleground Avenue" or an alternate "Mitchell Street" phrasing, and a specific year for the "spring" construction start. Federal compliance deadlines remain in place, with April 2029 set as the target for meeting the new PFOS and PFOA standards.