FAYETTEVILLE — A polite protest was held in front of the Chemours Fayetteville Work Facility around lunchtime Saturday, with the cutting wind causing a few of the approximate three dozen to have to leave early, but the continued staunch supporters of the fight against PFAS chemicals held their ground.

They’re wanting clean water, and they’re still wanting answers to the locations and extent of contamination.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known by the acronym PFAS, are a group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX and many other chemicals. Their full effects on the body have not been determined, but chemicals in the PFAS family have been linked to cancer.

Mike Watters, the ever familiar face of the Gray’s Creek community surrounding the plant and among the most outspoken, came with his same plea for clean water.

Jane Jacobs, a newer face, came forward again to speak against the chemicals going into the water supply, a supply that her friends and family use not only for sustenance, but recreation as well.

“When things were way simpler you could go swimming in the river or you could drink out of a creek,” she said. “You could eat whatever.”

Jacobs wants positive change and unity.

“If we can’t make changes, and make positive changes, and if we can’t all band together to make these changes, with all differences from anything else aside,” she said, her voice trailing off.

News about the contamination of the Cape Fear River came in June 2017, following a report from the StarNews newspaper of Wilmington. Numerous public meetings by various entities have been highly publicized by newspapers, television stations and social media.

That news hadn’t met Sarah Kirklands before she had bought a house in the area, just a few miles from the Chemours plant.

“We moved here last year, and my parents were having some health problems and we thought if we live here we could help take care of them and they could help take care of my son,” she said. “And they found out that they are getting sick because of their water, and that they don’t really feel good enough to be here.

“They are here now, and they are building on their property. We are pretty disturbed by this.”

She lives about four or five miles from the plant close to Gray’s Creek Elementary, where the well tested positive for chemicals coming from Chemours.

And another close place to the plant is the Willis Creek A.M.E. Zion Church, and Beverly Pone said that they are concerned with what is in the water.

“Our church is closest to this plant,” she said.

The church is on N.C. 87, on the Cumberland County side north of the plant. Chemours is in Bladen County, along the Cumberland County line and the Cape Fear River.

“My husband was born and raised here, and the original church was right down here on this DuPont Road,” she said.

The church has a cemetery down that road, and was originally built there, she said, around the late 1800s or early 1900s.

They use this water for cooking, for cleaning, for church gatherings.

“We have been cooking with this,” she said.

Frances “Vinell” Jackson is running for the N.C. House District 45 and is concerned about what this means for the area.

“I was the quality planner for Cumberland County,” said Jackson. “I know how contamination moves from one place to another, and they don’t stay in one place.”

Scott Layhew, a candidate for Cumberland County commissioner defeated in Tuesday’s primary, says people don’t really have a clear understanding of how far the contamination has spread because Fayetteville is on city water, and that is not being tested.

“We need the information to combat it, and if we don’t get the information it takes twice as long, three and four times as long,” said Leyhew.

Emily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Sarah Kirklands wasn’t aware of the Chemours controversy before buying a house in the area. She said it has had a significant impact on her family.

https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/web1_chemours_4-1.jpgEmily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Sarah Kirklands wasn’t aware of the Chemours controversy before buying a house in the area. She said it has had a significant impact on her family.

Emily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Protesters stood outside the Chemours Fayetteville Public Works Facility.
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/web1_chemours_5-1.jpgEmily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Protesters stood outside the Chemours Fayetteville Public Works Facility.

Emily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Frances ‘Vinell’ Jackson and Beverly Pone (center) speak with Scott Leyhew about the chemicals in the water near the Chemours plant.
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/web1_chemours_6-1.jpgEmily M. Williams | Bladen Journal
Frances ‘Vinell’ Jackson and Beverly Pone (center) speak with Scott Leyhew about the chemicals in the water near the Chemours plant.
Protest at Chemours Co. draws about three dozen

Emily M. Williams

Bladen Journal

Emily M. Williams can be reached at 910-247-9133 or ewilliams@bladenjournal.com.