Calls for clean drinking water grow in western Pender County as Pender Post publishes articles about issue
WILLARD, NC (WWAY) — Residents in western Pender County are continuing their years-long push for access to clean drinking water as one county commissioner prepares to travel to Raleigh next week to seek state support for expanding water infrastructure.
For Cheryl Highsmith, the need is evident every time she turns on the tap.
A strong rotten egg smell, rust-stained sinks and faucets, and black water collecting in her toilets have become a normal part of life at her home, where she has relied on well water for decades.
“So can you imagine drinking that? No, I can’t,” Highsmith said. “Again it’s a public health issue for our community.”
Highsmith said many residents in her community depend on private wells containing high levels of iron and magnesium, which leave rust stains throughout their homes. She said the water became an even greater concern after receiving a kidney transplant 14 years ago.
“When I stated that I had well water, the statement to me was, ‘You will never be able to drink well water again,'” Highsmith said. “Because well water is full of contaminants, whether it’s a deep well or shallow well, it’s still coming from the ground.”
Unable to drink from her well, Highsmith purchases bottled water in bulk each month and also uses bottled water for cooking.
Highsmith has brought the issue before the Pender County Board of Commissioners at nearly every meeting for more than three years. During a June meeting, she again urged county leaders to find a solution for residents without access to public water.
Commissioner Jimmy Tate, who represents the area where Highsmith lives, became emotional during that meeting while discussing alleged remarks made during a separate meeting regarding residents’ access to clean drinking water.
“Yes, you have and we appreciate it and my heart is very distraught, actually, I could cry right now,” Highsmith said. “I am very upset with you,” Tate said in response.
Tate is expected to travel to Raleigh next week to seek support for efforts to provide clean drinking water to residents in the affected communities.
The issue has also gained renewed attention through a three-part series by the Pender-Topsail Post & Voice examining the history, current challenges and possible future solutions surrounding water access in western Pender County.
Publisher Andy Pettigrew said the issue dates back to 2005, when six water and sewer districts were established across the county. According to Pettigrew, the Columbia Union district voted against a bond referendum that would have funded public water infrastructure. Highsmith, who lives within that district, said she voted in favor of the proposal.
Pettigrew said the discussion is about more than the cost of extending water lines.
“People need clean water, their wells are failing. What responsibility does government have to try to help people and get them clean water?” Pettigrew said. “Because that’s, in many parts of the world, that’s considered to be a human right, to get clean water. And right here in Pender County, they’re having the same difficulties.”
Highsmith said she will continue speaking on behalf of residents until a solution is found.
“I’m speaking on behalf of all the citizens, I’m speaking on behalf of the community,” Highsmith said. “We don’t live in a third world and it’s like we are pleading.”
The second installment of the Pender-Topsail Post & Voice series is scheduled to be published later this week and will examine the current status of the issue. The final article, expected next week, will explore potential solutions for bringing clean drinking water to affected residents.
