Lawsuit: Robeson County Landfill Tainting Drinking Water for 67,000 Residents
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday claims the Robeson County Landfill has been leaching PFAS chemicals into the drinking water of more than 67,000 county residents.
ST. PAULS, NORTH CAROLINA — Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Robeson County, alleging that the Robeson County Landfill has been contaminating the public drinking water supply with PFAS, commonly known as forever chemicals, putting more than 67,000 county residents at risk.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on behalf of the St. Pauls Community Association for Progress, a Robeson County-based grassroots organization. The suit accuses the county of failing to act on a known threat to community health and safety.
Landfill Sits Across the Street from Key Water Source
The Robeson County Landfill now covers 537 acres near the town of St. Pauls, after the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality approved multiple expansions of the site over the years. Directly across the street, the Rocco Water Treatment Plant draws its water supply exclusively from four groundwater wells.
According to the lawsuit, all four of those wells sit within 4,500 feet of the landfill. Test results cited in the complaint show the Rocco plant has the highest PFAS levels in finished water — water that enters the county’s distribution system — of any water treatment plant in the area.
The county’s public water system serves more than 67,000 residents across Robeson County, all of whom the lawsuit contends are exposed to PFAS-contaminated tap water due to the landfill’s proximity to the treatment plant’s wells.
Attorneys Say County Has Known About the Problem for Years
SELC senior attorney Jamie Whitlock said the county’s inaction left the organization no choice but to pursue legal action. “The county’s decision not to address this problem, which they have known about for years, risks residents’ health and safety and leaves us no choice but to take it to court,” Whitlock said in a statement. “People in Robeson County deserve to have safe, clean water when they turn on their taps.”
A spokesperson for Robeson County did not respond to a request for comment from NC Newsline before publication.
PFAS Contamination a Statewide Concern
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals that do not break down naturally in the environment or in the human body. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has established temporary limits on several PFAS compounds allowed to be released into groundwater. Groundwater supports roughly half of the state’s drinking water supply, according to NC Newsline.
The St. Pauls Community Association for Progress brought the case seeking to halt further contamination of the county’s water system from the landfill. The lawsuit does not name a specific dollar amount in damages but asks the court to compel the county to address the contamination.
