DATE: January 27, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Tyler Wittkofsky, Public Information Officer.
twittkofsky@H2GOonline.com– 910.371.9949, ext. 108

H2GO Proposes End to Two-Year Lawsuit

LELAND, NC – In November of 2017, with the future of Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer
H2GO’s proposed Aquifer-Sourced Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant in limbo, H2GO
commissioners voted to transfer their assets to the Town of Belville, whose elected officials
accepted the proposal the next day. Later that week, the Town of Leland filed suit against H2GO
and the Town of Belville.

On the afternoon of January 24th, correspondence in the form of a settlement proposal was sent to
the Towns of Leland and Belville that would end the two-year legal battle.

“With Brunswick County and Belville Elementary School topping the list of PFAS
contamination levels according to the January 21st Environmental Working Group study, H2GO
felt it was imperative to find a solution to the current two-year litigation so we can get clean
water to the most vulnerable population of our community, our children,” said Ron Jenkins,
H2GO Chairman.

The settlement proposal has several key points for the solution and remedy of the on-going
lawsuit:

1. The Town of Belville will transfer back to H2GO all the assets transferred by H2GO to
the Town of Belville in 2017;
2. H2GO will agree to pay the Town of Leland $800,000.00 toward the costs and attorney's
fees incurred by the Town of Leland in filing and pursuing the litigation;
3. The Towns of Leland and Belville and H2GO will have the appeals that have been filed
with the Court of Appeals withdrawn by counsel within ten (10) days of the execution of
a written settlement agreement;
4. The Towns of Leland and Belville and H2GO will jointly move the Court in the pending
litigation to modify the preliminary injunction that was entered on December 28, 2017 to
remove and delete decretal paragraph 8, which prohibits H2GO and the Town of Belville

P. O. Box 2230 910-371-9949 (Office)

www.H2GOonline.com
Leland, NC 28451 910-371-6441 (Fax)
 from constructing or making arrangements to construct the RO Plant permitted by
NPDES Permit NC0089613;
5. The Town of Leland will withdraw, with prejudice, the claim in the pending litigation
asserting that H2GO violated the North Carolina Open Meetings Law as well as the
request that the Town of Leland has made for costs and attorney's fees;
6. The Town of Leland will agree to facilitate and not to oppose, obstruct or impair, the
construction and operation by H2GO of the RO Plant permitted by NPDES Permit NC
0089613.

The settlement proposal is derived from the Court’s decision and, therefore, no annexation terms
are addressed.

“We believe that the provisions laid out in the settlement proposal are fair to all parties. Our goal
is to come together as a region to provide our community with water that is safe, clean, and free
of industrial contaminants by the aquifer-sourced RO Plant,” said Jenkins. H2GO elected
officials have signed and agreed to the terms proposed. The settlement proposal was delivered to
the Towns of Leland and Belville, who will have until February 21st to accept or decline the
settlement proposal.

With the recent findings presented by the Environmental Working Group, it is more crucial than
ever to re-start construction of H2GO’s aquifer-sourced RO Plant. It is up to H2GO and the
Towns of Leland and Belville to protect and preserve the health and welfare of our communities.

It is the hope of H2GO that the Towns of Leland and Belville will join them to provide our
community with what they deserve: water that is safe, clean, and free of industrial contaminants.

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P. O. Box 2230 910-371-9949 (Office)

www.H2GOonline.com
Leland, NC 28451 910-371-6441 (Fax)