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New PFAS thresholds welcome news to Northeast advocates

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A kitchen faucet

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week its strongest step toward the regulation of toxic compounds of national concern.

The EPA proposed new maximum contaminant levels for PFAS chemicals this week.

Under the proposal, compounds PFOA and PFOS would be limited in drinking water to 4 parts per trillion. It’s the first regulation of its kind from EPA for the chemicals that in elevated concentrations have been linked to several ill-health effects including forms of cancer.

Four other compounds were also given health advisory levels.

The news was welcomed by advocates who have for years sought federal regulation of PFAS, including Loreen Hackett of Hoosick Falls, where water contamination was linked to industrial sites.

“It’s been so long, you kind started to wonder if this day was ever going to come,” said Hackett.

Hoosick Falls residents first found out about the presence of PFOA in the village water supply in 2014. In 2021, three companies blamed for the pollution — Saint-Gobain, Honeywell International, and 3M — agreed to pay $65 million to settle a federal lawsuit in the Rensselaer County village.

Across the state border in Bennington, Vermont, Saint-Gobain agreed to a $34 million settlement last year.

Bennington College Professor and Associate Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action Dr. David Bond, who has studied the PFAS contamination in the area, said the EPA’s announcement puts its policy in line with science.

“This is a step forward, it’s a step that many of us felt came at a snail’s pace, but it is a step in the right direction. That said, there are a number of concerns about how long it took to get where we are and how few compounds are actually being regulated by this announcement,” said Bond.

Thousands of manmade PFAS chemicals have been identified, and are used in manufacturing across a number of industries.

The American Chemistry Council issued a statement on the proposed regulations on Tuesday, calling EPA’s approach “misguided,” saying the “low limits will likely result in billions of dollars in compliance costs.”

Hackett says the EPA’s proposal – coupled with recent bills to restrict the uses of PFAS compounds – should send a strong message to industry.

“We’ve got it banning in apparel, we’re banning it food packaging…all these bills have passed. So, I think they see the writing on the wall and I think they're not happy about it, based on the comments I saw from the ACC,” said Hackett.

A day after EPA’s announcement, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released final water quality guidance values to regulate PFAS compounds.

The Final Ambient Water Quality Guidance Values related to human health are 6.7 parts per trillion for PFOA, 2.7 ppt for PFOS, and .35 parts per billion for chemical 1, 4-Dioxane.

DEC says the new guidance values provide “an extra margin of safety” against harmful PFAS pollution.

In 2020, New York State set maximum contaminant levels of 10 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, and 1 ppb for 1, 4-Dioxane.

With the EPA’s new proposed lower thresholds, some advocates say New York needs to catch up. Rob Hayes is Director of Clean Water at Environmental Advocates NY.

“DEC based these PFAS remediation standards on outdated science and they are not as protective as they should be, based on the new science that we have from EPA,” said Hayes.

The EPA proposal is subject to a 60-day public comment period.

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.
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