Water Infrastructure Puts Residents At Risk

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,

Published February 15, 2019 at 1:56 PM EST

Several communities in rural North Carolina struggle with water infrastructure maintenance.

A number of North Carolina communities are struggling to access safe drinking water. A WRAL investigative team tracked two decades of data and uncovered high rates of water violations, which are most pervasive in rural areas including the towns of Carthage and Butner in central North Carolina.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with WRAL investigative reporter Cullen Browder about rural water infrastructure in North Carolina.

With lower tax incomes from residents, businesses and manufacturing, some towns struggle to replace water infrastructure at an adequate rate to meet health and safety needs. The reporting draws connections between those towns and their struggling economies and the out-migration of residents. WRAL’s investigative reporter Cullen Browder speaks with host Frank Stasio about the report.

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

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Laura Pellicer

Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.

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