A town's water is contaminated with 'forever chemicals' – how did it get this bad?

Testing by the Guardian and Consumer Reports found high levels of potentially harmful PFAS in Pittsboro, North Carolina, and regulators have struggled to keep pace

On a bitterly cold afternoon earlier this year, the Haw River was running high - its water a bright ochre thanks to heavy rainfall and snow melt.

Most of the water flowed south, where it would eventually connect with Jordan Lake and the rest of the Cape Fear River basin, home to the cities of Greensboro, Durham, Fayetteville and Wilmington and a major source of drinking water for the eastern half of the state.