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Orange County asks state to deny UNC Chapel Hill permit for pelletized fuel over PFAS, health concerns
Summary
Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution on Jan. 21, 2025 asking the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to deny UNC Chapel Hill’s application to modify its Title V air permit to allow combustion of engineered pelletized fuel.
Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution on Jan. 21, 2025 asking the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to deny the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s application to modify its Title V air permit to allow combustion of engineered pelletized fuel at the university’s cogeneration facility in Chapel Hill.
The resolution, read aloud during the meeting and offered for adoption the same night, points to the county’s 2023 Climate Action Plan and to testimony at a Jan. 16 public hearing expressing concern that the pellets—described in the resolution as containing “varying and undeterminable amounts of plastic”—have been shown to contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The resolution says PFAS are “a contaminant of emergent and immediate concern” and that air emissions are a pathway for PFAS to enter the environment, including local water systems.
The board’s resolution requests that the Department of Environmental Quality deny UNC’s permit application at this time and directs that the county share the resolution with the county’s state legislative delegation, the governor, nearby town councils and county boards, and the university chancellor. Commissioner Hamilton read the resolution into the record; the board then moved and approved adoption the same evening.
Commissioner Carter proposed that the cover letter to UNC’s chancellor also ask the university to consider withdrawing the application and to note the university’s ongoing research into PFAS removal. The board voted to add that language to the letter to the chancellor and then approved the resolution.
The resolution and the board’s cover letter were created in time to meet DEQ’s comment deadline on Jan. 23, 2025, according to meeting remarks.
The action was procedural and did not change UNC’s permit application or DEQ’s review process; it is a formal request by the county that DEQ deny the modification request. The record of public testimony referenced in the resolution is the Jan. 16 public hearing, where residents and others spoke about local health and environmental concerns.
The board instructed staff to share the adopted resolution and the amended cover letter as described in the motion.
