Steven Vozzo was standing at the copy machine near Tom McKinney's office. As the Fayetteville coordinator walked out of his office Steven stopped him. Casually, he said that the DuPont inspector & Fayetteville coordinator was required to attend an agency meeting with DuPont in Raleigh on Friday.
The meeting with DuPont would be held in the agency's Parker-Lincoln Building, located on Capital Boulevard near the Raleigh I-440 beltline.
Yes, there is a big problem at DuPont, Tom began to explain.
Standing next to the copy machine, he repeated his description of the problem at DuPont Fayetteville Works. The DuPont environmental manager had described the problem to him during his last inspection. (He did not know it at the moment, but he would never again be allowed to inspect Dupont Fayetteville Works.) He had previously described the problem to Steven Vozzo after returning from the last inspection. Once again, he explained how the multiple fluorocarbon chemicals that were discharged from the large scrubber systems to the plant's wastewater treatment system do not break down. The conventional treatment system at DuPont Fayetteville Works was essentially an exercise in futility. It was not capable of handling the fluorochemicals in the wastewater and simply discharged the chemicals into the Cape Fear River. The DuPont environmental manager had pointed out that nothing in the river would break down the persistent chemicals. Clearly, there was a big problem at DuPont Fayetteville Works.
Anyone who has ever taken a shower in their bathroom can understand an industrial-size scrubber. The water spraying down in your bathroom shower cleans you, removing dirt, oils, odors, etc. Where does all that unwanted stuff go? It does not magically disappear! It goes down the bathroom drain and travels through pipes to your local wastewater treatment plant, or perhaps to a septic system or treatment system underground in the soil on your property.
The large industrial-size scrubbers at DuPont Fayetteville Works operate in a similar manner. They can be viewed as "giant showers" that wash out most of the fluorocarbon chemicals and other pollutants in the gases coming from the multiple fluorochemical manufacturing processes. Where does all that unwanted stuff go? It does not magically disappear! The highly contaminated water travels through pipes to the DuPont Fayetteville Works wastewater treatment plant and eventually through more piping directly into the Cape Fear River.
However, the industrial-size "showers" are not able to transport all of the many different fluorocarbon chemicals to the wastewater treatment plant and the Cape Fear River. Some of those chemicals escape out the top of the scrubber systems to the atmosphere. Which chemical pollutants are most likely to escape out the top? Not surprisingly, the chemicals that are not soluble in water easily escape into the air. However, even some percentage of fluorocarbon chemicals that are soluble in water can escape out the top and into the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the agency's Division of Air Quality silo was historically only interested in what comes out the top of the scrubbers. Was the discussion about the contaminated wastewater from the bottom of DuPont's scrubbers off-limits? Were agency "turf lines" crossed? Was it something for another agency silo, the Division of Water Quality, to figure out on their own? Is this a case of an entrenched boss somewhere in the sprawling organization saying, "it's none of your concern?" On the other hand, this problem will still eventually be tackled. After all, in North Carolina's environmental agency there are always workarounds!
The DuPont official, Mike Johnson, had described the problem with their fluorochemicals manufacturing processes at Fayetteville Works to the agency Fayetteville coordinator. He had carefully recorded this information in the report section named "Pre-Inspection Conference." Supervisor Vozzo had always instructed that "the most important information going forward" from the inspection of a manufacturing site should be placed in a section named either Pre-Inspection Conference or Post-Inspection Conference, essentially serving as the executive summary. "The most important information going forward."
While he was standing next to the copy machine in the hallway describing the problem once again, Steven just frowned. No questions were asked and there was no discussion. Nothing. It was a repeat of what happened when he had previously described the problem to his boss. Normally, Steven Vozzo asked lots of questions, encouraged discussion, and wanted all available information put on the table for consideration. He was a bright fellow and had a fundamentally curious nature.
However, Steven's behavior with DuPont Fayetteville Works was completely out of character. Why? Perhaps one misstep with DuPont could jeopardize his often stated goal of getting promoted to an upper level position in Raleigh.
It seemed clear to the Fayetteville coordinator that his boss was fearful and walking on eggshells with DuPont Fayetteville Works. To some degree, it was understandable. It appeared that DuPont was to some (or perhaps many) government officials in North Carolina what Exxon had been to many people in Baton Rouge during the Fayetteville coordinator's years working in Louisiana - a very powerful and deep-pocketed company. Any misstep could blow up or derail a career, tarnishing a professional reputation. Before speaking up, be sure to bow your head and make the sign of the cross. Certainly, you will need help from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Blessed Mother Mary, too.
A month earlier, an Editorial in the Fayetteville Observer, titled 'Caution Sign,' had discussed Dupont Fayetteville Works and pointed out how the contaminated groundwater beneath DuPont may well flow toward the nearby Cape Fear River. The article concluded with, "So far, DuPont has done its own monitoring for the chemical. The state should step in and conduct a far more extensive testing program." Perhaps the newspaper editorial was the driving force for the agency's upcoming meeting with DuPont? The DuPont fluorochemicals plant in Parkersburg, WV, was getting a lot of national attention. People had reason to be worried.
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