of its intent to sue for the failure to stop their toxic 1,4-dioxane pollution flowing into the drinking water supplies for about 900,000 North Carolinians “Asheboro and cities like it have the ability and responsibility to stop this illegal 1,4-dioxane pollution before it contaminates people’s drinking water,” said Jean Zhuang senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center “Emboldened by its fight to dismantle North Carolinian’s drinking water protections Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane pollution has skyrocketed in recent months Asheboro’s industries don’t want to pay to treat their own chemical pollution so the city is protecting their profits over the health and safety of North Carolinians downstream and making their untreated toxic industrial waste a costly problem for communities who get their drinking water downstream.” Following a recent administrative court decision in Asheboro’s challenge of state pollution limits state testing showed that Asheboro’s harmful 1,4-dioxane pollution reached the highest level seen at a wastewater plant in North Carolina—160 times the level that is protective of downstream drinking water These spikes in high 1,4-dioxane levels correspond to three separate times that the Asheboro told StarPet that it could take its treatment system offline allowing this industry to dump toxic pollution into downstream drinking water sources Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane pollution comes from its industries who pay the city to accept their industrial waste The Clean Water Act requires municipalities like Asheboro to control industrial pollution before it reaches the municipal wastewater plants Stopping pollution at the source so that industrial polluters pay is far more cost-effective than treating 1,4-dioxane and other dangerous pollution like PFAS at municipal wastewater treatment plants or at downstream drinking water utilities It also avoids placing the burden of contaminated drinking water on the health and finances of nearby and downstream communities Department of Environmental Quality’s ability to limit toxic 1,4-dioxane pollution and protect communities for 10 years taking advantage of a polluter friendly state legislature and state administrative court system DEQ issued a permit to Asheboro that would have limited the amount of 1,4-dioxane the city could release into downstream drinking water sources. The cities of Asheboro and Reidsville—three of the largest sources of 1,4-dioxane in North Carolina—collectively filed a lawsuit challenging Asheboro’s permit North Carolina’s Chief Administrative Law Judge sided with the cities and issued a ruling that dismantled the state’s ability to protect North Carolinians from 1,4-dioxane and other toxic chemicals DEQ has appealed the decision to Wake County Superior Court 1,4-dioxane is a manmade chemical that is harmful to people at extremely low levels and is linked to cancers and liver and kidney damage 1,4-dioxane is not removed by conventional water treatment Are you a reporter and would like more information? Please visit our press contact page for a full list of SELC’s press contacts Asheboro Police have carried out warranted searches at multiple unlawful gaming centers over the past month police say they learned that all of these businesses had illegally operating gaming machines The detailed investigative efforts by Asheboro Police led to the following items being seized: Detectives also say they sought charges on the following individuals: Police say these investigations are ongoing and detectives expect additional forthcoming charges Asheboro Police suggest community members to report any illegal gambling activities TRENDING: Two arrested with drugs from Alamance County traffic stop call Lieutenant Corey Hatfield at 336-626-1313 — A large amount of drugs and weapons are now off the streets in the Piedmont-Triad Asheboro Police say they carried out a warranted search of a home on North McCrary Street officers say they found the following substances: Responders also say they took non-taxed liquor TRENDING: North Carolinians react following Donald Trump's inauguration — The city of Asheboro has introduced new all-way stop signs at three major intersections in the city replacing traffic signals that have been in place for several years You can see the change at the intersections of Worth and Main “These have been stop lights for several years," Hutchins said “What came about is they need to be updated and - current price - is we’re looking at $270,000 to update these stop lights.” Especially because these three intersections are the only ones with traffic signals owned and maintained by the city itself The city is currently testing the new all-way stop system Hutchins said the response has been largely positive everyone seems happy with it for the majority," he exlaimed "Most people seem fine with it so far." Residents have also expressed their approval on social media, with many commenting on the city's post about the changes with gratitude and appreciation that the situation is still being monitored we go through them regularly," he explained "We’ll keep an eye on them and if it works good There is currently no information on when the conversions might become permanent If you know of a troubled roadway you would like us to investigate, just email us at traffictips@abc45.com. We'll air your concerns every Tuesday evening. Communication, community, and education are our top priorities. RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) has identified elevated 1,4-dioxane levels discharged from the City of Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant to Hasketts Creek which drains to the Deep River within the Cape Fear River Basin DWR staff notified downstream drinking water utilities and businesses on Jan 28 after preliminary laboratory results indicated elevated levels of 1,4-dioxane Entities notified include the City of Sanford Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington Pilgrim’s Pride Water System in Sanford and International Paper Co 1,4-Dioxane is categorized by the EPA as a likely human carcinogen, or a substance that likely can cause cancer. See EPA’s Risk Evaluation for 1,4-dioxane 1,4-Dioxane is used for a variety of industrial purposes DWR detected elevated levels of 1,4-dioxane in a sample collected on Jan 24 from the City of Asheboro’s wastewater treatment plant discharge returning a final concentration of 2,200 parts per billion (ppb) The Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant detected a concentration of 3,520 ppb from their own sample DWR completed quality assurance and control measures to validate the results using EPA toxicity calculations for lifetime exposure has determined that the average monthly 1,4-dioxane concentration protective of downstream water supplies is about 22 ppb for the Asheboro discharge The concentrations of 1,4-dioxane were measured in “grab samples,” or wastewater samples taken at a single point in time by the facility and DWR the grab samples are performed using an U.S Environmental Protection Agency-certified test method Monitoring is also being performed at other wastewater treatment plants identified to have 1,4-dioxane in their discharge to the Cape Fear River Basin Significant reductions have occurred at some wastewater treatment plants through a collaborative effort with the Environmental Management Commission DEQ will continue to work with the EMC to seek further reductions in 1,4-dioxane discharges DWR included 1,4-dioxane permit limits in Asheboro’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings issued an order striking these limits from the permit and EPA has objected to the ruling’s removal of the 1,4-dioxane limits from permit The primary means to achieve health-based levels is to reduce and minimize the release of the contaminant at the sources Industrial best management practices and treatment technologies exist to achieve these outcomes that protect North Carolinians’ drinking water sources DWR has posted 2024 and 2025 sampling data online and will continue to update the data as it becomes available: Cape Fear River Basin 1,4-Dioxane Wastewater Discharge Data Asheboro Police say they were called to four separate armed robbery cases with another incident reported from last Wednesday Four of these crimes are believed to be connected all including a suspect demanding money with a short barrel rifle One robbery involved the assailant forcing a victim to drive to an ATM and take out cash at gunpoint a suspect was identified from at least two of these incidents and arrested at an address on Meadowbrook Road faces charges of: Second Degree Kidnapping Detectives say that this juvenile was the likely suspect in four of these robberies “The Spot” gaming center also reported a similar armed robbery where police say this juvenile does not appear to be the responsible party Detectives continue to investigate this case and are following leads If you have further details about any of these robberies reach out to Detective Williamson at ewilliamson@ci.asheboro.nc.us or Detective Kivett at dkivett@ci.asheboro.nc.us (336-626-1300 Ext 2112) You can also call Randolph County Crime Stoppers at 336-672-7463 or RandolphCS.org with any other information TRENDING: Winston-Salem school board opts for extended school year, maintains drug-testing policy Crime Stoppers callers can remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward up to $1000 if an arrest is made or a case is deemed solved Asheboro Police were called to multiple shots fired outside of the Indoor Soccer Field at 210 Dunlap Street Investigation revealed that nobody was struck by gunfire Detectives say they recovered about 20 bullet casings of different calibers Williamson at ewilliamson@ci.asheboro.nc.us or 336-626-1300 Ext 2112 TRENDING: Forsyth County animal shelter fined for multiple violations, dog found dead You can also get in touch with Randolph County Crime Stoppers at 336-672-7463 or RandolphCS.org with any information you may have Crime Stopper calls can remain anonymous and may receive a cash reward up to $1000 The city of Asheboro Wastewater Treatment Plant discharged unusually high levels of a likely carcinogen into waters that flow into the Cape Fear River The discharge of 1,4-dioxane went into Hasketts Creek According to the Southern Environmental Law Center it’s the highest discharge level in the past six years SELC says Asheboro’s 1,4-dioxane discharges at the end of January reached levels 10,000 times the cancer risk level for the chemical and 160 times the cap DEQ had set for the wastewater treatment plant Cape Fear Public Utility Authority found out about the discharge earlier this week Cammie Bellamy is a spokesperson for CFPUA and said the utility has been monitoring the levels ever since “We're very lucky that we have existing treatment technologies in place that are very effective and we feel that those technologies will continue to be effective even with this larger amount in the water," Bellamy said Bellamy said it’s always best to prevent contamination at the source CFPUA intends to keep monitoring the contaminant levels over the next few weeks as the contaminant flushes out of the waterways Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies were told about a reported assault taking place on Pilot Mountain Road in Asheboro deputies learned that suspect Christine Faye Leonhardt another 911 call said that a female suspect was now sitting on a neighbor's porch She was served with felony larceny of a dog and misdemeanor communicating threats charges since Leonhardt is already out on pre-trial release for a separate incident TRENDING: Mayor Vaughan, residents honor Officer Horan's sacrifice with support and sympathy Deputies say that she will have a first court appearance on Monday.