Tag Archive for: PFAS

Orange County Water Districts Consider Massive Lawsuit Over PFAS Contamination

/in , , /by /Inland Valley Daily Bulletinby Martin Wisckol

Nine Orange County water agencies have retained a legal team to study whether to file suit to recoup the estimated $450 million cost of purifying drinking water in local wells contaminated with PFAS chemicals.

The PFAS compounds — long used in Scotchguard, Teflon and other products — have leached into groundwater supplies over several decades and have been linked to a variety of health problems, including cancer, liver and kidney damages and ulcerative colitis.

It’s likely that 3M and DuPont, the primary manufacturers of PFAS products, would be defendants.

Full Story

PFAS Limits in Drinking Water to Take More Than a Year, EPA Says

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Sylvia Carignan

The EPA won’t be able to set drinking water limits for two PFAS chemicals in the next year, agency administrator Andrew Wheeler told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency determined that it’ll set maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for the two chemicals—PFOA and PFOS—in drinking water, but hasn’t proposed what those limits should be.

Full Story

Senate Panel Moves Major Water Bills, Adding PFAS Actions

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Dean Scott

The Senate’s environment panel pushed through two major water infrastructure bills Wednesday, rejecting a GOP member’s attempt to give Western states more authority over water supplies but agreeing to direct the EPA to set drinking water limits for “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.

Full Story

Water Quality Issues, Safety Concerns are Significant Drags on Water Utility Customer Satisfaction

/in , , /by /WaterWorld Magazine

As the Environmental Protection Agency moves closer to implementing regulations for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” in the U.S. drinking water supply, many Americans are “just saying no” to tap water. According to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study released today, 25 percent of Americans say they never drink their tap water, setting the stage for a serious set of customer satisfaction challenges on the part of regional water utilities.

Full Story

City Enters Agreement with Water District for PFAS Treatment

/in , , /by /Fullerton Observerby Jesse Latour

Council voted 5-0 to approve a 30-year agreement with Orange County Water District (OCWD) which will provide funding for construction of PFAS (groundwater contaminant) treatment plants and a portion of ongoing operational and maintenance costs for impacted Fullerton water wells, at their April 21 meeting.

Full Story

Lawmakers Push for Inclusion of ‘Forever Chemical’ Regulation in Future Stimulus Bill

/in , , /by /The Hillby Rachel Frazin

A group of more than 80 members of Congress is pushing for the inclusion of provisions to regulate a class of cancer-linked chemicals in future stimulus legislation dealing with infrastructure.

Full Story

California Attorney General Urges EPA to Expand Review and Regulation of Toxic “Forever Chemicals” – PFAS Chemicals

/in , /by /Sierra Sun Times

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today, as part of a coalition of 18 attorneys general, urged the Environmental Protection Agency to broaden and strengthen the review and regulation of per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS.

Full Story

Here’s the Latest Count of Suspected Bases with Toxic “Forever Chemicals” in the Water

/in , , /by /Military Timesby Meghann Myers

There are nearly 700 military installations with either confirmed or suspected ground water contamination caused by fire-fighting foam using in vehicle and aircraft mishaps, according to new data released Thursday by the Environmental Working Group.

Cancer-linked per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS, have been confirmed at 328 sites, according to Pentagon data analyzed by EWG. and are suspected on about 350 more Defense Department installations and sites.

“DoD officials have understood the risks of AFFF since at least the early 1970′s, when the Navy and Air Force did their own studies on the toxicity of PFAS in fish, and the early 1980s when the Air Force conducted its own animal studies,” Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs, told reporters in a phone conference on Thursday.

Full Story

Groups Bring Suit Over Secret Approval Process for PFAS Chemicals

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Service (Pasadena, Calif.)by Megan Mineiro

Bemoaning the government’s clandestine process of approving widely unregulated PFAS chemicals, environmentalists brought a federal complaint Wednesday to make the chemical program transparent.

Short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS are a class of chemicals ubiquitous in commercial products and disturbingly linked to cancer, infertility, pregnancy complications and other toxic effects.

Full Story

Military Bases With Possible PFAS Water Contamination Rise. Is Yours on the List?

/in , /by /Impact2020 (Washington)by Tara Copp

The number of known military sites where cancer-linked firefighting foam may have contaminated groundwater across the United States has jumped to 651 from 401, and the cleanup bill will likely cost billions of dollars more than initially estimated, according to a new Pentagon report.

The new report was directed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper as part of his focus on PFAS contamination and lists hundreds of additional locations, many of them Army National Guard sites, in all 50 states where area groundwater may have been contaminated by the chemical compound.

Full Story