Water continues to be an ongoing issue for Sampson County, with residents of the Old Warsaw Road area consistently appearing before the Board of Commissioners to ask for water service to be extended to their community.
Public Works Director Mark Turlington reported at Monday night’s meeting that the county did not receive anticipated grant funding that would have been used to bring county water to Old Warsaw Road, as well as Mintz Highway. “We have resubmitted the grants Oct. 1, and hopefully we’ll get something this time,” he reported, adding that Commissioner Lethia Lee had been in contact with the governor’s office to try to get some help getting water to those communities.
Commissioner Chip Crumpler asked Turlington what the commissioners can do to help. He responded that they should write letters to Sen. Brent Jackson.
Elaine Hunt, who has appeared before the Board of Commissioners for three years and five months, requesting county water in the Old Warsaw Road area of Turkey. “I want to thank you for what you have done and thank you for what you will do,” she told the commissioners. “I’m going to keep coming. I promise you I will.”
She added that PFAS (forever chemicals) have been found in the water in her community. “It causes liver damage,” she said. “It causes thyroid disease. It causes cancer. My father passed in November 2021. We didn’t know about PFAS then, but I just know in my heart.”
Glenn Faison, Hunt’s brother and neighbor, also appeared in support of his sister. “I’m gonna need y’all to make this personal,” he told commissioners. “There’s a story about a firefighter who responded to a fire in a low-income area of town. When he got there, the fire wasn’t engulfed. He made an assessment that they couldn’t go in. Probably two minutes later, he got a call from his wife that his daughter was visiting someone there. Then he made it personal. He used all his resources to go into the building. There were people in there before, but he didn’t care about them. He made it personal.”
Brenda Atkinson, also of Warsaw Road, also spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Water is not a want, but it’s a necessity,” she stated, pointing out that the commissioners each had a bottle of water sitting before them. “My water was tested by the state. It showed that I have PFAS. They called and said, ‘Do not drink or cook with the water.’ They provided me with water. I’m thankful, but I had to put it in my laundry room. Do you know how hard it is to remember that you can’t cook with water from your faucet?”
The Environmental Justice Community Action Network (EJCAN) also tested Atkinson’s water, and it was found that her water has a high level of both sodium and sulfur. “When we take a shower,” she said, “we try not to let the water run too long because it smells like rotten eggs in the house.”
Turlington also gave the following updates on the county’s water projects:
- The iron and manganese water treatment plant on Faison Highway was scheduled to be up and running Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.
- The Midway tank booster pump, Bonnettsville booster pump and the Roseboro tank are all “substantially completed,” Turlington said, adding that he has given the contractor a punch list.
- About 85 percent of the water lines have been laid for the Ivanhoe project. He stated that the project would hopefully be complete by the end of the month.
- The GFL project will be put out for bids next week.
- For Clement Phase 2, the design has been done, and permits have been submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality for review.
- The southern wells project has been bid out and awarded. On Oct. 13, wells at Kings Road and Taylors Bridge Road will be tested.
For more from the Oct. 6 meeting of the county commissioners, see Saturday’s print edition.