[MAY 29, 2025 – new files added to SEABOARD/HIGH POINT LANDFILL records, here.]
[Go HERE to read about the high levels of PFAS leaching into the groundwater and Deep River from the High Point Landfill/Seaboard Chemical site] CORRECTION: a reader’s inquiry revealed that the size of the site is 163 acres, not 110 as previously reported.]
1,4 DIOXANE continues to leach, drain and seep into Deep River (WSIV-CA*) from the 163-acre (inactive) High Point landfill/Seaboard Chemical dump at 5899 Riverdale Drive in Jamestown 27282, according to the facility’s 2024 annual water quality report.
Test samples for 1,4-DIOXANE, which the site has been leaching into Deep River for decades, were drawn from monitoring wells and surface water samples (Deep River). Four pages of results are below (click the image to enlarge):
For water supply streams like Deep River, the NCDEQ set 1,4-Dioxane in-stream target values of 0.35 ppb. Deep River is the main feeder to Randleman Lake and Reservoir (PTRWA), and then flows southeast into the Cape Fear River.
1,4 DIOXANE and PFAS are just two of a long list of contaminants and compounds leaching from the site:
A map of the monitoring well and surface water sampling sites, and hi-res versions of the test results, are in the 2024 Annual Water Quality Report below:
A round of PFAS tests conducted there in 2023 shows that local and state authorities were aware that very high levels of PFAS are present at the High Point landfill/Seaboard site. Many of the November 2024 results are in the three-digits — as high as 830 ppt and 720 ppt for PFOS; and 750 ppt and 515 ppt for PFOA. PFAS results are shown in nanograms per liter, which is equal to parts per trillion (PPT). The FEDERAL LIMIT for PFOS and PFOA in public drinking water supplies nationwide is 4 ppt (parts per trillion).
PFAS and 1,4-Dioxane bioaccumulate – they build up in our bodies over time. Deep River is a critical Class IV water supply and WOTUS (Water of the United States), and the main waterway feeding Randleman Lake/PTRWA.
Seaboard labels Deep River along Riverdale Road as “Randleman Lake.” Deep River in this location is known to the EPA, the US Geological Survey, and the NC Department of Environmental Quality as DEEP RIVER, segment NC17-(4).
Seaboard/High Point Landfill’s 211-page Water Quality Monitoring Report from October 2021 show the contamination from VOCs, 1,4-Dioxane, Vinyl Chloride and Chlorobenzene leaching and draining to DEEP RIVER, labeled here as “Randleman Lake:”
If you actually read any of these monitoring reports, substitute the words “DEEP RIVER” every time you see “RANDLEMAN LAKE” like so:
“Surface water sampling is conducted at eight surface water locations (Figure 3), which include: three locations along Randleman Lake DEEP RIVER (SW-6, SW-7, and SW-DRP-2); three locations on the Southern Intermittent Stream (SW-3, SW-4, and SW-5); and two monitoring locations on the Northern Intermittent Stream (SW-1 and SW-2). The Randleman Lake DEEP RIVER samples are collected at two depths: One foot below water surface and one foot off the bottom of the Lake. Note that surface water monitoring location SW-DRP11 has been removed from the Water Quality Monitoring Program as approved by August 17, 2023 correspondence from the NC DEQ.“
In September, we posted the results of mid-year reporting that showed 1,4 DIOXANE and VOCs (benzene, vinyl chloride, chlorobenzene and more) continuing to register at high levels at the High Point Landfill, and reported detection of METHANE GAS at levels above the “explosive” limit (link below).
This is the second quarter report from 2024 which has more test results (since it includes the quarterly test results):
Here’s the 2024 PFAS monitoring report:
Here’s a the 2021 monitoring report:
As staffing and funding cuts to the NC Department of Environmental Quality and EPA continue, the responsibility for testing our water and holding local water authorities responsible falls to the water customers and the citizens who live along the banks of Deep River and its tributaries.
This is just one of dozens of High Point industrial polluters and landfills that have been polluting Guilford County’s streams and water systems for decades.