Toxicologist: Claim NC Well Water Was Safe Was 'Scientifically Untrue'

"Emails obtained through public-records requests by a conservation group show that State Toxicologist Ken Rudo forcefully resisted the McCrory administration last year as it moved to alter the do-not-drink letters sent to hundreds of well owners near coal-ash pits owned by Duke Energy.

In March 2015, after Rudo had drafted the letters advising well owners — many of whom had elevated levels of the carcinogen hexavalent chromium — against using their water for drinking or cooking, department administrators pushed Duke Energy’s position that the water would generally be considered safe to drink under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

According to Rudo, one of the most experienced health experts in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, that claim is just not true."

Bertrand M. Gutiérrez reports for the Winston-Salem Journal July 31, 2016.