Wilkes County, NC
The federal environmental record for Wilkes County (population 66,013): what is on file, where it is, and what remains open. Sources and retrieval dates are on the methodology page.
0
Superfund NPL sites
0
federal cleanup sites
2
PFAS-detecting water systems
7
TRI facilities
68
open tank releases
Drinking water: PFAS testing
Public water systems serving Wilkes with at least one PFAS detection under UCMR5. The federal limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L; EPA proposed in May 2026 to rescind the limits for the other compounds, which are shown for information.
| System | Highest results | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| WEST WILKES WTR ASSOCIATION INC NC0197020 | 6:2 FTS: 8.2 ng/L | detected |
| BLUE RIDGE WATER ASSOCIATION NC0197030 | PFBS: 3.7 ng/L | detected |
On a system with detections? Testing and treatment options
Facilities reporting toxic releases (2024)
7 facilities in Wilkes filed TRI reports for 2024, totalling 225k lb released.
| Facility | City | Top chemicals | Total released |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. CHEMICAL STORAGE LLC | WILKESBORO | Chromium, Manganese | 153k lb |
| JELD-WEN COMPOSITES-NORTH WILKESBORO | NORTH WILKESBORO | Styrene, Diisocyanates | 39k lb |
| TYSON FARMS INC. | WILKESBORO | Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Peracetic acid | 31k lb |
| GARDNER GLASS PRODUCTS INC. | NORTH WILKESBORO | Lead | 616 lb |
| LOUISIANA-PACIFIC CORP | NORTH WILKESBORO | Zinc compounds, Manganese compounds | 430 lb |
| PLYCEM USA LLC | NORTH WILKESBORO | Lead | 221 lb |
| TYSON FARMS INC. - ROARING RIVER FEED MILL | ROARING RIVER | - | 0 lb |
Underground fuel tanks
EPA's UST Finder records 286 tank facilities in Wilkes: 314 tanks in service and 677 closed. 266 fuel releases are on record, of which 68 remain open. Open releases are cleanups that have not reached "no further action".
Radon
EPA maps Wilkes as Zone 2, moderate predicted indoor radon (2 to 4 pCi/L average). Radon and air quality are covered in depth on lung.com.
The record for one specific address
County figures blur what matters: distance. The Address Environmental Report runs these same federal datasets against one address and reports every site, tank, polluter and water result around it, with distances, in about a minute.
Get the report - $39