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Greensboro works on its PFOS problem as evidence of harm grows

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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

Greensboro works on its PFOS problem as evidence of harm grows

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20180603g_nws_pfos_art

PFOS Greensboro Water Resources

A map shows where testing for contaminants was done. Local investigators are focusing their search in industrialized areas around PTI because PFOS concentrations in streams that feed city reservoirs are highest in lake tributaries flowing through that area.

The chemical compound PFOS emerged as a problem for the Greensboro water system during 2014, when researchers participating in a nationally required testing program found it at troublesome amounts in water from the Mitchell Water Treatment Plant.

A pipe at the city’s newer Townsend Water Plant. The plant is being retrofitted with an advanced treatment system that should be in working order by the end of the year, officials say.

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Taft Wireback

GREENSBORO — Greensboro water supervisors are considering the next step after test wells at Piedmont Triad International Airport produced inconsistent results that have dimmed hopes for pinpointing a major source of the problem chemical PFOS, a harmful compound once heavily used in firefighting foam.

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Greensboro officials are still on the trail of chemical contaminant PFOS, which has been found in city's water supply

The city water department is testing groundwater at PTI in a search for "ground zero." And while the numbers are more elevated than officials …

National EPA conference to address such contaminants as PFOS, a problem for Greensboro's water supply

Federal authorities unveiled plans for the National Leadership Summit to convene May 22 in Washington, D.C., and chart a battle plan against P…

Search comes up empty so far for more sources of Greensboro water contaminant

Unlike many, the local dilemma does not trace back to a single industry with just one or a handful of well-defined release points.

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Greensboro drinking-water managers are trying to figure out the source of the chemical PFOS.  

Chemical compound shows up again in water at Greensboro's Mitchell treatment plant

Officials say they are getting water from other sources until the high levels of the compound PFOS/PFOA drop to acceptable levels.

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PFOS fix likely to cost Greensboro heavily

Similar upgrades at a larger, Wilmington water plant are estimated to cost $46 million.

Greensboro plant gets new filtering technology

The "powder activated carbon" system is a temporary fix to remove PFOS and similar pollutants.

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20180603g_nws_pfos_art

A map shows where testing for contaminants was done. Local investigators are focusing their search in industrialized areas around PTI because PFOS concentrations in streams that feed city reservoirs are highest in lake tributaries flowing through that area.

The chemical compound PFOS emerged as a problem for the Greensboro water system during 2014, when researchers participating in a nationally required testing program found it at troublesome amounts in water from the Mitchell Water Treatment Plant.

A pipe at the city’s newer Townsend Water Plant. The plant is being retrofitted with an advanced treatment system that should be in working order by the end of the year, officials say.

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