Toxicologist on cancer warnings: NC acted despite science

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A state toxicologist says officials in North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration are the ones responsible for fear and confusion about the safety of well water near Duke Energy coal ash pits found to contain a cancer-causing chemical.

Toxicologist Ken Rudo says in a statement issued by his attorneys late Tuesday that the state’s environmental and health agencies last year agreed on a safety standard for hexavalent chromium in groundwater after intense scientific discussions. Officials this year decided that standard was too high and declared the water safe to drink.

North Carolina’s public health director and an assistant secretary at the Department of Environmental Quality on Tuesday blamed Rudo for sowing fear about dangerous chemicals near Duke Energy sites with “questionable and inconsistent scientific conclusions.”

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