Kusek on how CFPUA handled GenX info: ‘Extreme lack of good judgement’

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The CFPUA Board of Directors met today to discuss an internal investigation on how information about GenX was handled and what to do next.

Last week, the investigation, conducted by CFPUA Vice Chair Jennifer Adams, who works as a chemical engineer at Corning, and Robin Smith, an environmental lawyer who used to serve as North Carolina’s Assistant Secretary of Environment, found that “Given all of the available information, CFPUA staff acted in an appropriate, professional, timely, and scientific manner.”

During the meeting today, CFPUA Board Member Patricia Kusek disagreed with the timely part.

“Somebody exercised extreme lack of good judgement in not responding quicker and that has helped to fuel this fire,” Kusek said.

Kusek also disagreed with another part of the review.

“We’ve got an organization here, who said that if we had to it all over again, we wouldn’t have done anything differently,” Kusek said. “I could fill up a foot chart of what we could have done differently.”

Kusek said CFPUA should have gotten in front of it.

“Because if we’re not telling you than you assume we’re hiding something,” Kusek said.

That is why concerned resident becky miller came to the meeting and spoke out. The meeting was not a public forum, but she was able to get a couple of questions and comments in.

“As a concerned citizen, we’re worried that you guys are hiding behind closed doors,” Miller said.

CFPUA Chair Mike Brown said Miller had some good points.

“What struck me is that we need to communicate,” Brown said.

There have also been some questions surrounding the internal investigation itself, because it was conducted by CFPUA Vice Chair Jennifer Adams who worked for DuPont as an engineer at its Cape Fear Plant from 1990 until 2001.

“Can you really say that she was an independent study?”
“First of all, I have nothing but the greatest amount of respect for Jennifer,” Brown said. ” I think she is an ethical person with great character and great integrity. She was reviewing CFPUA actions not Dupont. To add to that independence, and what was important to us and that I think has been lost here, is that Robin Smith, former assistant secretary to DENR was brought in to be that independent individual.”

In hindsight, Brown said they plan to create more communication protocols to be more transparent moving forward.

The CFPUA Board of Directors also decided to start having quarterly meetings with the health department and push DEQ and the EPA for better guidelines.