1,4-dioxane pollution federal lawsuit against asheboro and starpet

PRESS RELEASE | June 4, 2025

Conservation groups sue to stop toxic pollution of drinking water source for nearly 900,000 North Carolinians.

1,4-Dioxane pollution from Asheboro and plastics manufacturer, StarPet Inc. threatens the Cape Fear River basin.

On behalf of Haw River Assembly and Cape Fear River Watch, the Southern Environmental

Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Asheboro and PET plastics manufacturer, StarPet

Inc., to stop their discharges of toxic 1,4-dioxane into the Cape Fear River basin, a violation of the Clean Water

Act.

“With the lack of regulatory enforcement at the state level, the City of Asheboro and their industrial dischargers

have actually increased the levels of toxins going into our rivers. This is a blatant disregard of the Clean Water

Act and the health and safety of the communities in our state. We have a commitment to protect the Haw River

watershed and the communities who depend on it. Asheboro's discharges pose a direct threat to our mission.” -

Emily Sutton, Haw Riverkeeper and Executive Director at Haw River Assembly.

Asheboro has known for nearly a decade that it operates one of North Carolina’s leading sources of 1,4-dioxane

pollution. North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) identified Asheboro’s wastewater

treatment plant as a major source of the cancer-causing chemical in 2015. Much of this pollution originates from

StarPet Inc., which pays the city to accept and treat its industrial waste.

Rather than addressing the problem as required by federal law, Asheboro chose to fight water quality protections

alongside other polluters. Together, they successfully blocked DEQ’s efforts to establish 1,4-dioxane water quality

standards and permit limits under the Clean Water Act. Emboldened by these regulatory victories, Asheboro has

allowed 1,4-dioxane discharges to reach the highest levels ever recorded from a wastewater plant in North

Carolina’s history.

The defendants have at times allowed StarPet to shut off its treatment systems entirely, guaranteeing that

untreated 1,4-dioxane flows directly into waterways that serve as drinking water sources for hundreds of

thousands of North Carolinians. This cancer-causing chemical moves easily through water and cannot be removed

by conventional drinking water treatment, meaning pollution discharged upstream inevitably contaminates

downstream water supplies.

Technologies exist to remove 1,4-dioxane from industrial wastewater. The cost of protecting our drinking water

should be paid by the polluters who create the problem, not downstream communities who are forced to drink

contaminated water. Asheboro and StarPet’s continued violations of the Clean Water Act are unacceptable and

illegal. SELC, Haw River Assembly and Cape Fear River Watch are fighting for 900,000 North Carolinians’ right

to clean water.