State-Funded Testing Finds Elevated PFAS in Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department Well

State-funded testing conducted through the North Carolina Collaboratory found elevated concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the well that supplies the Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department in southern Alamance County, with results dated February 24, 2026.

The samples and analysis were part of a state-funded effort run through the North Carolina Collaboratory, the entity listed on the testing documentation that identified the contamination on February 24, 2026. The record specifically names the Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department as the location tied to the well with elevated PFAS concentrations.

PFAS is identified on the testing paperwork as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; the Collaboratory’s laboratory results list unusually high concentrations relative to background detections in the region. The testing paperwork uses the phrase "elevated concentrations" for the compounds measured in the Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department well in southern Alamance County, though the paperwork attached to the state-funded effort does not include action thresholds or numerical values on the summary page.

The detection at the Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department well places southern Alamance County on the state-funded testing map assembled by the North Carolina Collaboratory. The department named in the results, Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department, is located in the county’s southern reaches and is the specific public facility tied to the identified well sample collected for the Collaboratory project.

The discovery recorded February 24, 2026, establishes a documented instance of elevated PFAS in a public-serving well in southern Alamance County under a state-funded testing program administered by the North Carolina Collaboratory. Local and state stakeholders now have a dated laboratory finding linking the Eli Whitney Volunteer Fire Department well to PFAS detections as part of the Collaboratory’s sampling effort.