PITTSBORO, N.C. — The town of Pittsboro plans to file a lawsuit against a Burlington-based company, alleging it contaminated the Haw River.

The town's Board of Commissioners voted Feb. 12 to send notice to Apollo Chemical of intent to sue over what the town says are violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which town officials recently announced at a press conference. 

Apollo officials said they have never dumped the chemicals in question into any public waterway, and said they send all wastewater into the city's treatment plant. 

Apollo officials also said they were aware of recent elevated levels of chemicals, and they have been working with the city of Burlington for several months now to address it. The company stated there are trace amounts of the chemicals found in the river in raw materials they use. They also said they are actively working to reduce this and get rid of it altogether and outlined specific steps they are taking.

“These operational changes are designed to eliminate or greatly reduce any amount of 1,4-Dioxane in Apollo Chemical’s wastewater sent to the City’s sewer system,” a statement from the company reads in part.  In addition, a third-party consultant has been engaged to examine Apollo’s manufacturing and waste collection procedures to recommend enhancements to prevent future issues.”

Residents in the area are very mindful of the water that comes out of their faucets. One Pittsboro resident already has moved her family from one side of town to the other to get away from water issues.

Katie Bryant says the Haw River is the reason she chose to move to Pittsboro when she came to the state in 2011, but now her love for the river has diminished.

“I have mixed feelings. I don't come down here as much. I used to take my girls more frequently and even to Jordan Lake until I realized what was going on. And I couldn't in my right mind think, OK, I'm exposing them to stuff in their drinking water and then I'm just going to go put them in more,” she said.

When she moved to North Carolina, Bryant says she was warned by neighbors to be wary of the water.

“I had neighbors telling me to be careful," she said. "They knew I had moved here as a military spouse. My husband was gone, and we were about to start a family. And so they were like, try to avoid the water, there's something wrong with it."

"But nobody in the community knew, and they couldn't quite tell me what was wrong,” she said.

Bryant says it wasn’t until researchers were testing the water that she realized what was happening.

“And so the researchers were basically doing their due diligence and saying, 'hey, we're finding a lot of industrial contaminants that are dangerous to the community in the Haw regularly,'” she said.

And she believes health problems her family experienced are from the water, but she isn’t sure.

“Really bad headaches and digestive disorders. My husband in particular started to have gallbladder issues, which is tied to fat processing, which both 1,4 dioxane and PFAS could be contributed to,” Bryant said.

That made her want to do something for her family, so she moved them outside water limits of the city, where water for her home now comes from a well.

“In terms of health, it's been good. We don't have nearly as many things, many issues going on, like headaches, digestive, not as many illnesses, sickness in terms of like respiratory health issues,” Bryant said.

State Attorney General Josh Stein and other leaders met last week for a tour of Pittsboro's water treatment facility and to discuss the water quality issues in the area. The town says it has spent $3 million to install an advanced filtration system at the water plant.

The town in 2015 received the first reports that its water supply might not be safe. 

Since then, new filters and new technology have been used to help clean the water.  

Bryant says she isn’t just looking out for her own family, but also her community. She is advocating for clean water by partnering with an Elon University professor and has started a group called Clean Haw River.

“I applaud the town of Pittsboro for taking that lead. They have to also acknowledge this was way too long. I should not have to even form Clean Haw River — they should have been doing this advocacy for the town," she said. "That's a part of when they take those leadership steps. They should be doing this, not me."