Nc Landfills Create Hidden Risk: Pfas-contaminated Sludge And Groundwater

By Will Atwater

On a lukewarm July morning, Joe Suleyman — dressed successful a neon vest, short sleeves and bluish jeans — stood connected a grassy elevation successful New Hanover County. White clouds drifted crossed a agleam bluish entity supra a lush landscape. With h2o and wood successful nan distance, nan pastoral segment could person been a region parkland aliases a quiet agelong of farmland.

But it wasn’t. Beneath nan grass-covered mound laic decades of buried garbage. Suleyman was opinionated connected a capped conception of nan New Hanover County Landfill, westbound of nan metropolis and tucked betwixt 2 branches of nan Cape Fear River. This mound was erstwhile an unfastened compartment wherever trash was dumped for years earlier it reached capacity and was covered and sealed.

Suleyman, head of nan New Hanover County Recycling and Solid Waste Department, has overseen nan landfill for much than a decade. Under his leadership, nan tract blends exertion pinch environmentally focused practices to negociate astir 400,000 tons of discarded a twelvemonth from much than 240,000 residents. The goal, he said, is to protect nationalist wellness and nan environment.

“Underneath this landfill elevation […] there’s a three-layer liner system,” Suleyman said. “Between each furniture is simply a discovery area wherever we really look betwixt liners to spot if nan superior liner has grounded and is leaking into nan secondary liner. 

”We tin cheque that connected a regular basis.”

At nan New Hanover County Landfill, each compartment has 2 liners astatine nan bottom. Beneath them is simply a synthetic clay matting strategy that serves arsenic a last statement of defense. It swells erstwhile it comes into interaction pinch h2o to plug immoderate holes successful nan liner supra it. Each compartment besides includes “inspection zones” — a bid of pipes that instrumentality retired of nan ground. Cameras are periodically lowered into nan pipes to cheque whether nan liners are intact aliases punctured and allowing liquid to escape, Joe Suleyman said. Credit: Will Atwater/NC Health News

Still, moreover a well-run landfill faces challenges that spell acold beyond nan regular task of compacting and covering waste. One is really to trim emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Another is managing nan liquid that trickles done layers of trash — a perchance toxic operation known arsenic leachate. This murky runoff tin transportation a cocktail of pollutants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, aliases PFAS, that don’t easy break down successful nan environment. Found successful a multitude of products and packaging that often extremity up successful landfills — specified arsenic nutrient wrappers, electronics, nonstick cookware, cosmetics, and stain-resistant carpets and upholstery — PFAS are now wide successful discarded streams.

Scientists person linked PFAS vulnerability to superior wellness risks, including debased commencement weight, elevated cholesterol, thyroid disease, immune suppression, and kidney and testicular cancers. In North Carolina and astir nan world, managing PFAS successful landfill leachate has go a awesome situation for municipal wastewater curen facilities.

An emerging problem

A caller study by nan Waterkeeper Alliance, an world clean-water defense group, specifications a 19-state study of waterways downstream of wastewater curen plants and biosolid exertion fields, pinch a attraction connected disproportionately affected communities, according to a news release astir nan report.

Riverkeepers tested h2o adjacent wastewater plants and biosolid fields and recovered PFAS successful 98 percent of nan waterways. Levels were particularly precocious downstream, detected astatine 95 percent of sites beneath wastewater plants and astatine 80 percent of downstream biosolid exertion fields, nan study states.

Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton, a contributor to nan report, said nan results raise superior concerns for an Alamance County community.

“We’re concerned astir nan pre-regulatory landfill successful Swepsonville that is owned by Alamance County and has importantly contaminated drinking water,” Sutton said. “There’s besides a sludge section owned by nan metropolis of Graham, straight crossed nan thoroughfare from this landfill. We’ve been moving to isolate which root of contamination is nan much important contributor. We person organization members connected wells whose drinking h2o has tested astatine complete 3,500 parts per trillion for full PFAS.”

In contrast, nan EPA group maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS — 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, and 10 parts per trillion for PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX). 

Pre-regulatory landfills are aged discarded sites successful North Carolina that closed earlier Jan. 1, 1983, erstwhile modern landfill rules took effect. Built without liners aliases different protections, they often contaminated ungraded and groundwater and are still costly problems for section governments.

North Carolina has 668 pre-regulatory onshore fields dispersed crossed nan state, a spokesperson for NC DEQ’s Department of Waste Management confirmed successful an email.

The problem extends good beyond North Carolina. Waterkeeper Alliance CEO Marc Yaggi called PFAS contamination a nationalist crisis: “Our latest sampling confirms that it’s wide and persistent, threatening waterways and nationalist wellness crossed nan country.”

A study released successful September by Chinese researchers connected PFAS successful landfill leachate from municipal coagulated discarded accommodation successful Shanghai suggests nan problem is global. The researchers recovered that galore curen processes struggle to region short-chain PFAS from leachate and groundwater, and it identified reverse osmosis arsenic nan astir effective method.

A furniture of protection

Modern landfills are built successful sections called cells, each lined pinch protective barriers designed to seizure leachate earlier it seeps into ungraded and groundwater.

“[The] liner strategy is made retired of high-density polyethylene,” Suleyman said. “It’s nan aforesaid worldly that beverage jugs are made retired of. Much thicker, though. It’s 60 mils thick.” Suleyman said a liner is adjacent to nan thickness of 120 trash bags layered together.

At nan New Hanover County Landfill, each compartment has 2 liners astatine nan bottom. Beneath them is simply a synthetic clay matting strategy that serves arsenic a last statement of defense. It swells erstwhile it comes into interaction pinch h2o to plug immoderate holes successful nan liner supra it, Suleyman said.

Each compartment besides includes “inspection zones” — a bid of pipes that instrumentality retired of nan ground. Cameras are periodically lowered into nan pipes to cheque whether nan liners are intact aliases punctured and allowing liquid to escape, he said.

The landfill’s unfastened broadside has 9 15-acre cells; 2 person been filled and a 3rd is astir full. Once nan costs of engineering and creation is added to construction, each compartment costs astir $1 million, Suleyman said. This magnitude does not see nan costs of nan reverse osmosis strategy utilized to region PFAS from landfill leachate that is captured from nan cells.

‘A closed-loop system’

Leachate is made up of rainfall and aboveground h2o mixed pinch moisture from decomposing waste, specified arsenic food, gait trimmings and different integrated materials that group propulsion away. When nan liquid that builds up betwixt layers reaches a group level, it is discharged to a lined, 2 million-gallon aeration lagoon that prevents it from seeping into nan ground, Suleyman said.

“If you imagine: A landfill liner strategy is simply a large bathtub, and it’s filling up pinch this soiled water. Instead of a plug aliases a drain, it goes into a pump system, and past from there, we pump it to our curen system,” he said. 

Once successful nan lagoon, a curtain strategy slows nan travel of leachate and helps solids settle, Suleyman said. Beneficial germs past break down immoderate of nan discarded during nan aeration process. The liquid adjacent passes done an ultrafiltration system, wherever much biosolids are removed, he said. Finally, it moves done reverse osmosis filters, leaving clear, purified h2o that is stored successful a tank.

Leachate is pumped from landfill cells into a lined lagoon, wherever beneficial germs thief break down biosolids during nan aeration process. Credit: Will Atwater/NC Health News

“It’s a closed-loop system,” Suleyman said. “Whatever comes here, stays here. Even nan cleanable h2o stays connected tract — we usage it to irrigate.”

Before nan reverse osmosis strategy was installed, PFAS levels successful nan leachate erstwhile measured 30,000 parts per trillion, Suleyman said. Since then, nan filtration strategy has consistently removed nan chemicals.

A costly enterprise

During leachate purification, nan strategy tin process up to 75,000 gallons per day, Suleyman said. But that reverse osmosis is power-hungry.

“The powerfulness measure alone, for nan reverse osmosis, is astir $14,000 to $16,000 a period — conscionable nan powerfulness bill,” Suleyman said. “We besides walk tens of thousands of dollars replacing nan filters.” Other expenses see replacing pumps and leaky valves arsenic needed, he said.

Before nan reverse osmosis strategy was installed, PFAS levels successful nan leachate erstwhile measured 30,000 parts per trillion, Joe Suleyman said. Since then, nan filtration strategy has consistently removed nan chemicals. Credit: Will Atwater/NC wellness News

When factoring successful nan costs of constructing each compartment on pinch leachate treatment, Suleyman said landfill customers are getting a bully return connected what they salary to discard waste.

“There’s a batch that goes into moving a landfill, and it’s very expensive,” he said. “To beryllium capable to connection nan organization nan opportunity to dump off, say, 200 pounds of their garbage for $5.20 — that’s 1 of nan biggest bargains successful town.”   

The New Hanover County Landfill has nan resources to instal and support exertion that prevents PFAS-laden leachate from escaping into groundwater and treats hazardous worldly successful nan water. Unlike immoderate communities, area residents besides use from a abstracted municipal h2o curen installation operated by nan Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. It uses a granular activated c strategy to trim PFAS successful nan drinking h2o supply.

But successful places for illustration Swepsonville, wherever a pre-regulatory landfill and a sludge section tract is nearby, residents person a harder clip dealing pinch wells contaminated pinch PFAS.

“Some counties are very wealthy, for illustration New Hanover, and others aren’t,” Suleyman said. “They’re going to beryllium faced pinch a reliable determination — nan aforesaid benignant of determination that came erstwhile nan national authorities required landfills to person liner systems.”

“A cardinal dollars an acre — a batch of counties can’t spend that, truthful they conscionable unopen down operations,” he said. “There’s been a displacement to much regional landfills, for illustration Sampson County, and they’re a for-profit business, truthful they’re accepting discarded from crossed nan authorities and moreover retired of state. We don’t cognize what’s successful that waste.”

Suleyman added that group who blasted landfills for PFAS contamination person it wrong.

“It’s not for illustration landfills make PFAS,” he said. “The PFAS comes successful pinch your trash.”

Taking responsibility

Environmental groups are pressuring authorities lawmakers to clasp PFAS manufacturers accountable for nan costs of cleanup, including nan contamination of waterways specified arsenic nan Cape Fear River. Instead, though, nan load of treating PFAS successful drinking h2o has fallen connected municipal utilities for illustration Wilmington’s Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which has spent tens of millions of dollars installing and maintaining a granular activated c filtration strategy to strain PFAS retired of drinking water. 

Those costs person been passed connected to ratepayers.

Lawmakers person besides introduced alleged “polluter pays” bills, including House Bill 569. The measurement would require polluters to reimburse nationalist h2o systems for nan costs of cleaning up PFAS contamination. 

HB 569 passed nan North Carolina House of Representatives by a wide separator but has seen nary action successful nan Senate since early May 2025.

Another imaginable remedy is nan tribunal system. Numerous lawsuits person been revenge connected behalf of nan state, utilities and communities seeking compensation from manufacturers that person discharged — and proceed to dump — PFAS and different hazardous chemicals, specified arsenic 1,4-dioxane, into waterways. Advocates besides constituent to waste-reduction efforts for illustration recycling and food-waste collection arsenic ways to trim nan trash going into landfills — and, successful turn, nan leachate that carries PFAS into nan environment.

While nan statement complete accountability and cleanup continues, Suleyman envisions a early wherever nan landfill itself becomes portion of nan community’s scenery successful a very different way.

“My imagination is to person areas planted pinch trees — heavy forested, pinch trails winding done them,” he said. “We’ve sewage respective lakes retired present that we’ve stocked pinch fish, truthful you’ll beryllium capable to bring your kids retired here.” 

How this communicative came together:

My reporting began aft I publication nan Waterkeeper Alliance study describing really wastewater curen accommodation struggle to support PFAS-contaminated leachate retired of adjacent waterways. That led maine to a North Carolina riverkeeper who contributed to nan study and had written astir residents surviving adjacent a pre-regulatory landfill pinch PFAS-contaminated wells. I had besides heard affirmative things astir nan New Hanover County Landfill’s biology initiatives, truthful I contacted its head to circuit nan tract and study really they negociate waste.

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