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By Denise Civiletti - April 10. 2024
Highlights
· The final rule announced today by the EPA is stricter than the proposed rule published last year and stricter than the standard adopted by New York State in 2020.
· PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” are harmful substances linked to deadly cancers and other health impacts. They are prevalent in the environment from many sources.
· The federal agency also announced nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities comply with the rule.
· Public water suppliers will have five years to comply with the rule if they detect PFAS in their systems.
A long-anticipated federal rule establishing strict new drinking water standards for PFAS contamination was announced today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The new rule establishes maximum contaminant levels for five individual PFAS chemicals, including so-called “GenX chemicals.” A maximum contaminant level is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. The rule sets MCLs of 4 parts per trillion for the two most widely detected PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS — stricter limits than the 10 parts per trillion MCL currently in effect in New York State.
PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” are harmful substances linked to deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children, the EPA said in a press release announcing the rule.
PFAS — shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are synthetic chemicals used for a variety of purposes in many different industrial processes and consumer products. They are also found in firefighting foam used to extinguish certain types of fires, including those involving fuels.
The chemical compounds are among the most persistent in existence – meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time — and contaminate everything from drinking water to food, food packaging and personal care products, according to scientists. They are found in the blood of virtually everyone, including newborn babies.
“We are beyond thrilled with the EPA’s new bold regulations on PFAS chemicals and consider today’s announcement the greatest public health victory in a generation,” clean water advocate Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment said in a statement. “Millions of Americans currently drinking water contaminated with dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ have been fighting for solutions, and today we got it,” she said. Reducing exposure to these chemicals “will save thousands of lives,” Esposito said.
Infrastructure Law funding available to help localities comply
Regulated public water systems have three years to complete their initial monitoring for these chemicals, the EPA said in a fact sheet accompanying the announcement of the new rule. Systems must include their results in their Annual Water Quality reports to customers. Systems that detect PFAS above the new standards will have five years to implement solutions that reduce PFAS in their drinking water. Water systems must also notify the public if levels of regulated PFAS exceed these new standards.
Cleaning up PFAS contamination is an expensive proposition, particularly because the chemical contamination is so widespread. The new, stricter federal standard will undoubtedly mean increased costs for public water suppliers, which will need to upgrade their facilities to remove the chemicals from drinking water supplies, or extend public water mains to homes and businesses that currently rely on private wells.
Compliance with the new rule is estimated by the EPA to cost approximately $1.5 billion annually.
The EPA also announced nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment in public water systems and to help owners of private wells address PFAS contamination.
“This is part of a $9 billion investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities with drinking water impacted by PFAS and other emerging contaminants – the largest-ever investment in tackling PFAS pollution,” the EPA said in a press release issued this morning. “An additional $12 billion is available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for general drinking water improvements, including addressing emerging contaminants like PFAS.”
The prevalence of the contaminants generally makes it difficult to know the extent of local impacts or the costs associated with addressing them.
Known PFAS contamination in local communities
PFAS have been detected in one of the Riverhead Water District’s supply wells. The district has obtained compliance deferrals from the state while it installs a treatment system at the well. In the interim, it is blending water drawn from the affected well with water drawn from an unaffected adjacent well so that the water supplied to customers complies with the state’s 10 ppt MCL.
PFAS have also been found in private wells located in Calverton and Manorville.
In 2021, PFAS were found in groundwater monitoring wells at the closed Riverhead landfill in Calverton at levels up to 10 times the New York State maximum contaminant level of 10 ppt, which was adopted in 2020. The discovery prompted a survey by the State Department of Environmental Conservation of private drinking water wells in the nearby area. The state said the Suffolk County Department of Health Services is monitoring private wells downgradient from the landfill site considered to be at risk for contamination.
Groundwater pollution at closed Riverhead landfill is 10x state limit, investigation finds
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Groundwater pollution at closed Riverhead landfill is 10x state limit, investigation finds
PFAS contamination documented in fish caught in areas of the Peconic River, including the waters of Peconic Lake and Forge Pond, prompted the State Health Department last May to warn the public to limit consumption of fish caught in those areas.
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PFAS levels in Peconic River fish prompt advisory from state health officials
Extensive PFAS contamination exists in the soils and groundwater at the former U.S. Navy-owned manufacturing plant in Calverton operated by the Navy contractor, Grumman Corporation/Northrop Grumman from the 1950s to 1996. PFAS contamination has been confirmed in groundwater at the southern border of the former aerospace manufacturing site, where the Navy has a fence-line monitoring system in place. The chemicals have been found in private residential drinking water wells south and east of the site, including at levels that exceed the N.Y. State maximum contaminant level.
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The Navy has rebuffed demands by residents, environmental advocates and town, state and federal elected officials to take responsibility for cleaning up PFAS groundwater pollution migrating off the former Grumman site.
At meetings of the Calverton Restoration Advisory Board, Navy representative have maintained that the Navy is not responsible for remediating off-site groundwater pollution, or even for conducting continued testing, because PFAS had not been found at levels that exceeded an EPA “lifetime health advisory” of 70 ppt — difficult to quantify lifetime exposure level —which was the only regulatory restriction on PFAS until June 2022. At that point, the EPA abandoned the 70 ppt lifetime advisory level in favor of a far stricter lifetime advisory level of 4 parts per quadrillion — a level so low it cannot even be detected. The EPA announced in June 2022 that it expected to publish a proposed rule setting the first-ever national maximum contaminant level for PFAS by the end of that year.
Nevertheless, the Navy has made clear it would not change its position on cleaning up offsite groundwater pollution plumes using the EPA’s drastic drastically reduced lifetime health advisory level.
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The Navy has consistently maintained that, as a federal entity, it is not required to comply with the state’s maximum contaminant level.