Reporting by the Port City Daily, an online newspaper dedicated to the Cape Fear region, around the NC Chamber’s engagement on water regulations is inflammatory and sensationalized to such a point that we can no longer engage in good faith.  That said, we want to ensure our members understand where we stand on this issue.

Clean water is critical to sustaining a healthy community and economy. Businesses are powered by the people who live in the communities in which they work. It defies common sense to suggest that those same people are interested in anything other than safe, abundant water for their families, neighbors, and communities.

Our Position

Our role in this discussion is to ensure that the regulatory standards are clear and understandable so that North Carolina businesses can safely operate and provide a way for people to earn a living. The NC Chamber supports clear standards on the regulatory front.

North Carolina has a process for rulemaking and it must be followed.  When it comes to 1,4 dioxane, the NC Chamber became engaged when the EPA threatened to take over regulatory authority of a single permit. That is problematic for North Carolina, as it would create a patchwork of regulatory authority. When one standard is set for one place and no standard is set for another, questions of fairness arise and uncertainty looms. Compliance is improved when there is predictability and certainty in how a business will be regulated and by which entity they will be regulated.

The NC Chamber supports regulating to the highest safe dose, with a reasonable margin of error. The level matters: the lower the level, the higher the cost of compliance. Clean water is worth the cost, but regulators should not arbitrarily establish a level that is low for the sake of being low. Established maximum levels must be backed by science – including readily available technology to measure and filter to the set level.

Stick to the Facts

This is a nuanced issue, and reporters, politicians, and advocates have resorted to incendiary comments to attract clicks and inject emotion into a scientific debate. Let’s deal in facts.

On any given day, the NC Chamber team is working on at least a hundred different issues and projects. We have volunteer leaders from across the business community engaging with us in those efforts. We are thankful to those willing to lend us their professional expertise and we are disappointed to see them irresponsibly maligned by members of the media and advocates working to further their own agenda.

Tensions are high in today’s political climate. Comments suggesting our position is tied to cancer deaths are not only false, they are dangerous to the safety of our team. While suggesting misinformation may be politically popular, too often it is used to stifle debate and discourage the public from participating in government. The business community has every right to ask questions, understand the consequences of proposed regulations, and advocate for consistency.

Employers prioritize a healthy environment that balances economic growth and recognize that it is critical to our competitiveness. The NC Chamber will not be shamed out of petitioning government for certainty and predictability and asking tough questions about our leaders’ plans for our future.