A looming deadline on a critical wastewater agreement has exposed a growing divide between Canton officials and their private partner, with negotiations stalled over cost, oversight and the data needed to shape the town’s long-term infrastructure plans. 

Town leaders confirmed they do not yet have an extension in place for wastewater treatment services as the current agreement with mill site owner Eric Spirtas was set to expire at 5 p.m. March 31 — when The Smoky Mountain News went to print — leaving only days to resolve a dispute that has been building over months. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allocated a combined $686 million to North Carolina for Hurricane Helene-related drinking water, wastewater and septic system projects, with a focus on resiliency and a goal of reducing risk and vulnerability in systems as they face future storms. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources has released data from a preliminary study that found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances present in soil, wastewater and biosolids, the nutrient-rich organic material that remains after wastewater has been treated. The study is the agency’s first investigation assessing PFAS concentrations in biosolids across the state.

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals widely found in commercial, industrial and consumer products. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment and can build up in humans and animals. More information about PFAS can be found on DEQ’s website.

DWR staff began gathering samples in 2023 for the study, which evaluated PFAS concentrations in wastewater and biosolids from 37 municipal, industrial and domestic wastewater treatment facilities. Staff also tested soil collected from 19 fields that are regulated under non-discharge permits.

The study found PFAS compounds present in wastewater, biosolids and soil samples. Estimates found the majority of PFAS entering wastewater facilities on an annual basis is discharged into waterways, as compared with the amount entering the environment through land application of biosolids. An overview of the study, including background information and a summary of the results, is available online.

There are currently no federal or North Carolina state regulatory requirements for PFAS in biosolids. The study will inform future study design and identify opportunities for further data collection and analysis. Researching the movement of these chemicals in the environment was beyond the scope of the study.

Waynesville isn’t just another mountain town still recovering from Hurricane Helene — it’s Haywood County’s economic, cultural and governmental hub. Nearly everything that happens in the largest municipality in the state’s western seven counties has ripple effects beyond its borders, from disaster recovery and infrastructure planning to affordable housing and fiscal stability.  

Two Haywood County water systems will benefit from a combined $15 million in funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program for disaster-affected states. North Carolina is the first state impacted by Helene to award grants from this program. 

When the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton closed after more than a century of operations in June 2023, the shockwaves went far beyond the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs.

Twenty-seven counties across the state will receive more than $204 million in funding for 48 drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects. The awards will improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, address PFAS and other forever chemicals, identify and replace lead pipes, and improve resiliency after future storms. 

Canton’s toilets will continue to flush thanks to an agreement born of urgency but put on paper with cooperation and cautious optimism.

Almost a year after its internal publication, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has made public a report detailing the results of comprehensive ground and surface water sampling required at and around the site on which the now shut-down Pactiv Evergreen papermill sits. 

North Carolinians who lost access to water through a private well or damaged septic system as a result of Hurricane Helene may be eligible for FEMA assistance.