In the News

Government can actually work, just ask Maysville

Maysville, North Carolina, Town Manager Schumata Brown writes about how PFAS contamination has affected his rural community for years. With funding from the infrastructure law, the Biden administration is delivering much-needed funding for water infrastructure to rural communities.

Maysville, North Carolina is the kind of rural town where you don’t have to lock your door. Our slogan, “naturally welcoming,” describes our people. We always look out for one another. But when I learned our town water supply was polluted with toxic PFAS chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), the feeling of safety was replaced with fear.

Almost four years since we discovered PFAS in our water supply, the end to our nightmare is finally in sight. With the Biden administration’s infrastructure funding, $10 billion is coming to communities like mine to provide our citizens with clean drinking water. With the funding, we can finally fund the project to fix our water supply.

The above excerpt was originally published in the New Bern Sun Journal. Click here to view the full article.

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Author

Schumata Brown

Town Manager, Maysville, North Carolina

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