Residents urge county to extend water lines as public raises contamination and fire-safety concerns

Several residents and community leaders pressed the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners on March 7 to prioritize extending county water lines to neighborhoods that rely on private wells, saying some wells smell, discolor clothing and carry suspected contaminants.

Audrey Schreiber, an organizer with Earth Rights International, told the board the county should “extend water lines to all neighborhoods and connect residents who want access to county water,” and urged commissioners to apply for water infrastructure grants administered by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality before April 30, 2025.

Sabrina Gardner Beal, who said she lives at 2988 Brown Road in Bolivia, described household impacts she attributed to groundwater problems: “We buy drinking water weekly for cooking, brushing our teeth. We shower in this water daily, unable to take tub baths and see the resin build up in a two-day period.” She also said some residents have been told contaminants are “not at dangerous levels” despite limited local studies.

Carl Parker, identifying himself as president of the Brunswick County NAACP, and other speakers added that many homes lack nearby fire hydrants while still paying fire fees. Parker asked the county to pursue grants and engineering maps to connect homes at no charge to residents.

County staff and commissioners discussed multiple related items later in the meeting. County Manager John Nichols presented a separate staff request from H2GO Utilities to convey a roughly 350-foot segment of 16-inch water main that crosses under U.S. 17. Nichols said the main was originally constructed to supply Brunswick Forest but is no longer used by the county after H2GO built its own treatment plant.

Board members debated whether to convey ownership or retain county ownership while allowing H2GO to use the line. Supporters said the line would boost fire flow and system capacity for H2GO; opponents said the county should preserve assets for future use. Manager Nichols said the county could interconnect other vaults and transmission points if an emergency required county-to-H2GO transfers.

After discussion the board voted to convey the specified segment to H2GO. The conveyance was approved by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and an affirmative voice vote but does not provide a roll-call tally in the public record.

Commissioners also discussed recent taste-and-odor complaints about county-treated water. Nichols said treatment staff had identified an up‑stream increase in natural organics that temporarily affected taste and odor; he said water leaving the county plant is no longer showing the odor issue and that the county’s reverse-osmosis (RO) project is roughly 80% complete. Commissioners asked county staff to invite the project engineers to a future meeting to provide an updated timeline and firm completion date for the RO system.

Why it matters: county residents who lack connections to the public system can face recurring costs for bottled water, reduced fire protection and uncertainty about possible health impacts from suspected contaminants. Several public speakers specifically requested the county pursue state grant funding and accelerated engineering work to connect underserved areas.

What’s next: the board authorized the conveyance of the highway crossing main to H2GO and directed staff to follow up on the RO project status; commissioners also heard public requests to prioritize grant applications to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality before the April 30, 2025 deadline.