By Tony Mueller, Vice President and Rebecca Bleakley, Project Manager
The Environmental Bankers Association 2022 conference was held in Charlotte, NC in June. The event was the first in-person conference since January 2020. The conference brought together a large community of consultants, data providers, attorneys, and lenders. NV5 representatives included Tony Mueller, Rebecca Bleakley, and John Burkart.
Despite the recent turmoil in financial markets, the mood was optimistic, and most attendees said their deal flow remained steady. Some noted there was a shortage and difficulty in finding qualified personnel to conduct environmental assessments. Other topical sessions included deep dives into PFAs, Perc cleanups, Climate Change, and ESG.
During the event, one session discussed the North Carolina DEQ GenX Investigation on the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear provides drinking water to multiple counties between Fayetteville and Wilmington in eastern North Carolina and discharges to the Atlantic near Wilmington, NC. GenX is a trade name for a PFAs compound manufactured by Chemours and investigations have identified soil, groundwater, and surface water impact. GenX was identified as a safer replacement for PFOA in 2009. Even the alternatives to prior PFAs can be problematic. DEQ is understandably concentrating on impact to health in populations on well water, but a significant problem with PFAs is that they are also discharged to surfaces via stack emissions. The DEQ has posted documents and updates on their site: https://deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/genx-investigation