Clean Cape Fear In Action
Here’s a quick look at some of our current actions, as well as, accomplishments over the years.
November 18, 2020
Emily Donovan participated in a WHQR CoastLine interview with Attorney General, Josh Stein, and Duke University professor, Lee Ferguson, to give an update on where NC is at regarding actions to address PFAS contamination. Click here to view the segment.
November 18, 2020
Clean Cape Fear and it's allies held a virtual meeting with US EPA's Assistant Administrator, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. We discussed our recent petition filed in October requesting the EPA use its full authority to require Chemours/DuPont conduct health effects testing on 54 PFAS released from Chemours’ Fayetteville Works Site.
October 14, 2020
Clean Cape Fear partnered with five environmental health and justice groups to submit a petition to the US EPA demanding it take long overdue action to address PFAS pollution in Cape Fear communities in North Carolina. The petition asked the EPA to require DuPont/Chemours fund comprehensive health and environmental effects testing on 54 PFAS manufactured at its production facility in Fayetteville, NC. Click here to review the petition. Click here to watch the virtual press briefing.
October 2, 2020
NC DEQ Secretary Micheal Regan met with Emily Donovan to learn more about Clean Cape Fear’s PFAS Community Relief Fund request.
September 17, 2020
Clean Cape Fear collected over 1,000+ signatures from people who live or vacation downstream of the Chemours Fayetteville Works Site requesting NC DEQ establish an Immediate Community Relief Fund for municipal ratepayers and private well owners who continue to be exposed to high levels of PFAS in their finished tap water. This petition was submitted during the public comment period regarding an Addendum to the Chemours consent order between NC DEQ and Cape Fear River Watch. Click here to view the petition.
August 12, 2020
Emily Donovan was featured in a direct mailer educating North Carolina residents on the lack of federal administrative leadership to address our growing PFAS contamination crisis.
June 16, 2020
Emily Donovan participated in a virtual congressional press briefing hosted by the Consumer Federation of America urging Senators to oppose Nancy Beck’s confirmation hearing. Click here to watch the press briefing
June 15, 2020
Clean Cape Fear collected over 700+ signatures from local residents opposed to the White House’s nomination of Nancy Beck to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The letter was delivered to North Carolina US Congressional Senators Burr and Tillis. Throughout her career, in her roles both inside and outside of government, Nancy Beck has a long record of opposing and weakening safety standards, jeopardizing the public health and the environment, particularly with respect to toxic chemicals including PFAS. Click here to view our petition.
February 19, 2020
Clean Cape Fear, along with allied partners, helped organize and participate in a series of events in Raleigh, NC with actor/producer Mark Ruffalo to pressure state lawmakers and other leaders to act on PFAS contamination in NC’s air, soil, water, and food supply. These events included meeting with Attorney General Josh Stein to encourage legal action, a press conference with state lawmakers interested in taking bolder action to address NC’s PFAS contamination crisis, and a screening of the movie Dark Waters. Click here to read more about the Raleigh events.
February 18, 2020
Clean Cape Fear hosted a sold out screening of the movie Dark Waters at Thalian Hall with a special appearance from actor/producer Mark Ruffalo. The purpose of the screening was to increase public awareness regarding the continued contamination of PFAS chemicals in local drinking water supplies. Click here for local reporting on the event.
February 13, 2020
Tickets sold out within an hour of going live for a special Wilmington, NC screening of the movie Dark Waters. Clean Cape Fear, along with its allies, hosted the event which brought actor Mark Ruffalo to town for a special community conversation prior to the screening.
February 4, 2020
Emily Donovan and concerned parents from Brunswick County attend a Brunswick County School board meeting to pressure school board leaders to install reverse osmosis filling stations in all 20 impacted public schools. Unlike the New Hanover County School board, which invited Emily Donovan to speak at their meeting, the Brunswick County School board refused to add clean water to their agenda and refused to allow last minute public comments from the parents who attended the meeting.
January 30, 2020
WILMA magazine interviewed co-founders, Jessica Cannon and Emily Donovan, for the February 2020 issue spotlighting women making a difference in the Wilmington community. Click here to read the article.
January 28, 2020
Clean Cape Fear’s Emily Donovan met with New Hanover County Board members to encourage installing reverse osmosis filling stations inside every public school impacted by PFAS contamination. The board approved a resolution to investigate installing reverse osmosis filling stations in 29 impacted New Hanover County Schools. Click here to learn more about this meeting.
January 22, 2020
Clean Cape Fear participated in nationwide PFAS tap water testing commissioned by Environmental Working Group. Brunswick County, NC topped the report for having the highest levels of PFAS reported in the study. Wilmington, NC also ranked in the top five locations for highest levels of PFAS recorded.
Local reporting from Port City Daily further explains the test results. Click here for more details.
Belville Elementary School was the sample location in Brunswick County. Click here to view local reaction from Emily Donovan, whose children attend the school.
January 15, 2020
Emily Donovan participated in a Q&A discussion led by WHQR reporter, Vince Winkel, after a screening of the movie Dark Waters in Wilmington, NC.
November 21, 2019
Drake Phelps was invited to speak at Nerd Nite at the Alamo Drafthouse in Raleigh. This event gives a chance for experts to present on any subject they desire. Drake Phelps spoke to the crowd about the PFAS crisis here in North Carolina, how people can reduce their exposure, and how they can hold legislators and polluters accountable.
November 19, 2019
Emily Donovan joins actor Mark Ruffalo and lawyer Rob Bilott for a Washington Post Live panel discussion on the new movie Dark Waters and how communities can protect themselves from exposure to PFAS chemicals. Click here to view the panel discussion.
November 14, 2019
Johnsie Lang and Drake Phelps host an informational table along with our friends from Center for Environmental Health and NC Conservation Network for a prescreening of the movie Dark Waters in Raleigh, NC.
October 23, 2019
Emily Donovan, Jessica Cannon, Kyle Horton, and Johnsie Lang attend the 2019 NC PFAS Summit co-hosted by the NC PFAST Network and Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative. Emily spoke as a panelist sharing valuable community perspective on how agencies and institutions can effectively respond to PFAS contamination within NC. Clean Cape Fear also attended various working groups providing much needed community input.
October 7, 2019
Emily Donovan travels to San Francisco, CA to share our community’s impact story at a Center for Environmental Health event. Actor, Mark Ruffalo, and lawyer, Rob Bilott, were headliners for the event designed to raise awareness regarding PFAS chemical contamination.
September 19, 2019
Emily Donovan and Johnsie Lang meet with Chemours plant manager, Brian Long, to learn about the installation of a new thermal oxidizer. Emily and Johnsie discuss concerns from the community and urge Chemours to divest from PFAS chemistry; as well as, urge employees to hold themselves personally accountable for their role in historic and ongoing PFAS contamination.
August 16, 2019
Kyle Horton travels to Center for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, GA to participate in a steering committee with other PFAS contaminated communities across the country. This committee is working to plan the first ever ATSDR National Community Engagement Summit for those impacted by PFAS chemicals.
July 24, 2019
Emily Donovan, Jessica Cannon and Kyle Horton travel to Washington, DC. Emily organizes a trip for residents from Brunswick and New Hanover county to meet with members of Congress and share their personal impact stories. Emily testifies for a second time before Congress. This time before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Click here to view the hearing.
June 11, 2019
Emily Donovan and Kyle Horton attend the 2019 National PFAS Conference in Boston, MA. Emily gives a presentation on our community impact story during a session regarding PFAS other than PFOA/PFOS.
May 15, 2019
Emily Donovan and Kyle Horton join other PFAS contaminated communities across the country for a National PFAS Lobby Day on Capitol Hill. This event was designed to educate members of Congress about the dangers of PFAS chemical exposures. Efforts from this day helped Congress navigate the over 30+ bills designed to address our national PFAS public health crisis. Click here to learn more about ongoing efforts at the federal level to address PFAS chemical exposures.
May 14, 2019
Emily Donovan and Kyle Horton travel to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to meet the filmmakers and stars of the the documentary The Devil We Know.
May 9, 2019
Emily Donovan participates in a panel discussion following a screening of the documentary The Devil We Know in Whiteville, NC hosted by the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network.
May 6, 2019
Emily Donovan, Jessica Cannon, and Kyle Horton travel to Raleigh, NC to meet with NC DEQ, as well as Wilmington and Fayetteville state senators, to provide community feedback and discuss concerns regarding the state’s response to PFAS contamination in drinking water across NC.
May 1, 2019
Emily Donovan shares our community impact story at the 2019 Cancer Free Economy Network membership meeting held in Durham, NC in ongoing efforts to educate and elevate the dangers of PFAS chemical exposures at a national level.
April 11, 2019
Emily Donovan and Kyle Horton attend the 2019 NC BREATHE conference sponsored by Clean Air Carolina to hear Dr. Jane Hoppin provide updates regarding health impacts of PFAS; as well as, work with attendees to elevate community needs regarding PFAS exposure and contamination across NC.
March 7, 2019
Emily Donovan travels to Washington, DC to participate in a panel briefing with members of Congress regarding PFAS contamination. She also meets with NC House and Senate members of Congress to share PFAS contamination stories from southeastern NC.
February 6, 2019
Emily Donovan and Jessica Cannon organize a meeting in Raleigh, NC between scientists and Southern Environmental Law Center to discuss community and scientific concerns regarding the proposed consent order with Chemours. The two also stopped by the NC General Assembly to update Senator Harper Peterson on the ongoing needs regarding PFAS contamination in southeastern NC.
December 12, 2018
Clean Cape Fear attends a public information session hosted by Cape Fear River Watch and Southern Environmental Law Center, as well as works to educate the community on the facts surrounding a proposed consent order between NC DEQ, Cape Fear River Watch, and Chemours. Click here for details regarding Dec. 12th public meeting.
November 13, 2018
Clean Cape Fear attends the first public presentation regarding the GenX Exposure Study co-hosted by Cape Fear River Watch & NC State’s Center for Human Health and the Environment. Click here for more details regarding the study’s ongoing research.
November 6, 2018
Despite illegal gerrymandering, Clean Cape Fear former founding member, Harper Peterson, is elected state senator for New Hanover County’s NC Senate District 9 seat. Clean Cape Fear provided endorsements for Clean Water Candidates during the 2018 election cycle.
September 6, 2018
Emily Donovan testifies before Congress at the first ever congressional hearing on PFAS contamination. Click here for details.
August 14, 2018
Emily Donovan gives community perspective presentation at EPA’s Region 4 Community Engagement Event on PFAS contamination located in Fayetteville, NC. Click here for details.
June 4, 2018
Marking the one year anniversary of publicly learning about GenX in our drinking water, Clean Cape Fear’s Dana Sargent is a panelist on Cape Fear Surfrider’s public information forum. This event was part of a collaborative weeklong effort by local environmental nonprofits during Wilmington’s 2018 Clean Water Week.
January 10, 2018
Emily Donovan and Dana Sargent travel to Raleigh as the House votes on a GenX bill which includes much needed funding for DEQ. Ultimately, Senate Republicans would not support the bill. Click here to learn more.
December 4, 2017
Emily Donovan, Jessica Cannon, and Dana Sargent give public comment at NC’s Science Advisory Board meeting held at UNCW. Clean Cape Fear encouraged the SAB to invoke the precautionary principle and create a health advisory for PFAS as a class. Click here for meeting minutes.
November 30, 2017
Emily Donovan and Jessica Cannon attend the House Select Committee on North Carolina River Quality in Raleigh to submit a signed petition from local residents demanding strong legislative action regarding GenX/PFAS. We also spent the day meeting with elected officials from Brunswick and New Hanover counties to educate and encourage passage of laws to prevent our region from further PFAS exposure.
November 28, 2017
Emily Donovan organizes concerned parents to attend a Brunswick County Parent Advisory Council meeting after learning the school district and county officials rejected a $200,000 donation to put RO filling stations in Leland public schools. Click here for news coverage from that meeting.
October 23, 2017
Emily Donovan and Jessica Cannon attend NC’s Science Advisory Board meeting in Raleigh. Emily Donovan gives public comment encouraging the SAB to act quickly and set health advisories for all the new PFAS chemicals found in the drinking water in Brunswick, Bladen, Cumberland, Pender, and New Hanover counties.
October 19, 2017
Clean Cape Fear attends UNCW’s Science Cafe focused on GenX and builds relationships with local academics to further collaborate on research projects designed to address community needs.
October 10, 2017
Emily Donovan and Jessica Cannon tour the EPA lab where GenX was first discovered and meet with EPA research scientists to learn more about PFAS.
September 19, 2017
Emily Donovan organizes Brunswick county residents to give public comment at school board meeting encouraging the county school system to approve the $200,000 water donation for Leland public schools. Click here for minutes from the meeting.
September 14, 2017
Emily Donovan attends, with research scientist Detlef Knappe, NC DEQ’s first GenX public forum for residents impacted by groundwater contamination near the Chemours Fayetteville Works site. Clean Cape Fear passed out informational handouts regarding GenX we developed with the help from academic toxicologists and PFAS scientists.
August 23, 2017
Clean Cape Fear worked with local environmental nonprofits to encourage residents attend and give public comment at the NC General Assembly’s Environmental Review Committee meeting held in Wilmington, NC. Public attendance was so high, the community could not all fit into the meeting space. At least 3 members from Clean Cape Fear gave public comment that day. None of ours comments were recorded. Only comments submitted or emailed were added to the public record.
August 22, 2017
Harper Peterson and Emily Donovan secure a $200,000 water donation from local Leland area utility, H2GO, to provide RO filling stations at all Leland area public schools. Read here for details.
July 26, 2017
Clean Cape Fear co-hosts our third, and final, Water Wednesday public forum focused on bringing together North Carolina's leading scientists to discuss the facts surrounding the level of toxicity of GenX and what, if anything, we know about the other toxins in our finished tap water. Click here for details.
July 5, 2017
Clean Cape Fear hosts our second public forum focused on getting the message out to any underserved communities affected. This event was designed to help community leaders brainstorm and partner to tackle communicating effectively about the toxins in our drinking water. Click here for details.
June 21, 2017
Clean Cape Fear co-hosts the first ever public forum on GenX with our friends from Cape Fear River Watch. It was the first of many public forums in our area to address the emerging PFAS public health crisis. Click here for details.