Viv Tolson Wayne stood on her porch along Britt Road in St. Pauls and rang her dinner bell loud enough to draw attention from the crowd gathered on her front lawn.

At 75, she wore a red T-shirt and white cowboy hat, ready to rally her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters and neighbors against pollution from the Robeson County Landfill half a mile down the road.

“We are here to let people know that they have a voice,” Tolson Wayne said. “So environmental injustice turns to environmental justice.”

Her group, the St. Pauls Community Association for Progress, along with the Southern Environmental Law Center, is suing Robeson County.

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The lawsuit filed June 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina claims the county allowed hazardous substances known as PFAS to seep into drinking water, violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The plaintiffs argue that contamination from the landfill endangers health and the environment.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are linked to higher risks of cancer, thyroid disease, reproductive problems, and developmental delays in children.

The conflict arises as the county commission considers expanding the landfill again, adding 35 acres to the 537-acre site. It would mark the seventh expansion in three decades, something residents have opposed.

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Sampling data show the landfill’s wastewater, or leachate, contains some of the highest PFAS concentrations in North Carolina. One sample in November 2025 reported 1,060 parts per trillion of PFOS and 4,100 parts per trillion of PFOA—several times higher than state averages.

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality has previously warned the county about groundwater exceeding state limits for PFAS. Officials urged more investigation into the scope and sources of the contamination.

The lawsuit says PFAS are entering the county’s Rocco Water Treatment Plant, which draws from wells within 2,089 feet of the landfill. Tests conducted by the Southern Environmental Law Center in late 2025 found what it described as the highest PFAS levels in treated drinking water anywhere in North Carolina.

“Comparable PFAS levels in Wilmington’s public water were considered a public health emergency,” said lawyer Maia Hutt. “So why isn’t this a public health emergency?”

Testing also found specific compounds at elevated levels, including nearly 25 parts per trillion of GenX. The EPA had set a GenX limit of 10 ppt before the Trump administration eliminated the standard. Nearby, Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant produces GenX, and testing has shown the compound in many local wells.

Tolson Wayne’s own tap water tested above 35 parts per trillion of PFOA, more than seven times the EPA’s maximum contaminant level. Still, she remains hopeful that change will come. “We just want clean water,” she said. “I might not see it in my lifetime, but my grandchildren deserve a safe environment.”

The Robeson County Landfill, which began operations in 1985, has expanded several times and taken in over 2.5 million tons of waste, including debris from Chemours. Records show the landfill accepted nearly 5 million pounds of Chemours’ waste materials since 2017.

The county earned about $3 million from landfill revenue in the 2024–2025 fiscal year. Tolson Wayne called that profit “blood money” and urged the county to fund water filtration improvements. The Southern Environmental Law Center has demanded the county install carbon or reverse osmosis systems at the water treatment facility.

County attorney Rob Davis said officials have acquired land for a carbon filtration system and are working toward a solution. “Our commissioners are taking this issue seriously,” he said in an email.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit use of the water treatment plant until new technology can fully remove PFAS.

Environmental justice groups say the proposed landfill expansion would deepen inequities. Over 70% of nearby residents are non-white, and more than 60% have low incomes, according to a consulting report. “I’m tired of people assuming the underrepresented don’t have a voice,” said community leader Sibyl Farr.

She said the lawsuit was a last resort after years of waiting. “You can’t wait,” Farr said of the county’s timeline to fix the problem. “Are we supposed to sit here and drink polluted water until they decide to act?”

While the county works on a PFAS mitigation plan required by 2027, residents like Julia Odom have taken matters into their own hands. The 73-year-old borrowed $6,000 to install a home purification system to make her water safe to drink.

The Lumber River, which collects runoff from the landfill, has been named one of America’s most threatened rivers by the nonprofit American Rivers due to PFAS contamination. Stormwater samples near the site have shown PFAS concentrations as high as 12,000 parts per trillion.

Attorney Hutt stressed the potential health risks, particularly for residents who fish from the river for food. “I’m not trying to be scary, but we are talking about significant potential public health impacts,” she said.

For Tolson Wayne, the fight is personal and rooted in family history. Generations of her relatives have lived on that land, drinking from the same groundwater she now fears is tainted. As she tends her garden, she hopes her work will protect the next generation.

“If you plant a tree today, I might not sit under that tree,” she said. “But my son or my grandchild might sit under it and enjoy the shade.”