{"id":608,"date":"2020-11-17T18:21:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T18:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/?p=608"},"modified":"2020-12-15T19:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:16:56","slug":"as-states-try-to-regulate-pfas-disputes-increase-between-military-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/2020\/11\/17\/as-states-try-to-regulate-pfas-disputes-increase-between-military-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"As states try to regulate PFAS, disputes increase between military, companies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"NMPBS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Frontline\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Stories\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

Stories<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Timeline\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

Timeline<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"PFAS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

PFAS Map<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"PFAS\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n

PFAS FAQ<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\n

\n\t\tAs states try to regulate PFAS, disputes increase between military, companies \n\t<\/h1>\n\t

Laura Paskus<\/p>\n

November 17, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n\t

In New Hampshire, the Air Force has refused requests from state officials and members of Congress\u00a0to follow the state\u2019s regulations\u00a0limiting the amount of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in drinking water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to set drinking water regulations for PFAS, many states have started creating and trying to enforce those limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as New Hampshire Public Radio reports:<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Hampshire wants the Air Force to cover the cost of drinking water assistance for three homes near the former Pease Air Base with PFAS chemical contamination in their home wells.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s the latest escalation in a dispute over whether the Air Force\u00a0has to\u00a0follow New Hampshire’s new limits on PFAS in drinking water as part of ongoing groundwater cleanup around Pease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Journal News Independent<\/i>\u00a0reports that\u00a0Mansfield, Massachusetts\u00a0voters just approved $13.9 million\u00a0in\u00a0water projects<\/a>, including two\u00a0to address\u00a0PFAS levels in the town\u2019s\u00a0drinking water system. According to the story:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two of Mansfield\u2019s nine wells, Cate Springs and Walsh, tested above the state\u2019s recommended levels of 20 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFAS since April. In both instances, the town took the wells\u00a0offline, which meant a loss of 1.2 million gallons of water per day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Michigan,\u00a0residents are finding out that their wells have tested positive for PFAS<\/a>\u00a0at levels above\u00a0recommended\u00a0limits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At\u00a0The<\/i>\u00a0Intercept<\/i>, Sharon Lerner reports that the Biden Transition Team has\u00a0appointed\u00a0Michael McCabe to its agency review team at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u00a0McCabe, Lerner reports, led DuPont\u2019s defense of PFAS:<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

McCabe began managing DuPont\u2019s communications with the EPA about the toxic chemical in 2003, two years after he left his job as deputy administrator of the\u00a0agency, and\u00a0continued in that role until at least 2006. As\u00a0The\u00a0Intercept\u00a0previously reported<\/a>, his still-fresh relationships with his former colleagues in government came in handy as McCabe skillfully and successfully helped the giant corporation dodge the agency\u2019s efforts to set binding limits on the chemical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To read more about how companies like DuPont used\u2014and defended\u00a0their use of\u2014PFAS\u00a0check out our timeline<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lerner also reports that Solvay Specialty Polymers, which the state of New Jersey has sued, is refusing to release information about its studies of\u00a0PFAS<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Jersey is battling the chemical company Solvay Specialty Polymers over critical information about a recently identified group of PFAS compounds. The company has provided the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection with studies showing that the chemicals, which it has released near its plant in West Deptford, are toxic. But Solvay has forbidden the state agency from sharing the details of the chemicals\u2019 effects on health and the environment on the grounds that they are confidential business information.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Maryland, a spill of aqueous film-forming foam ran from a storm drain into the Bear Branch, killing hundreds of fish.\u00a0In the\u00a0Capital Gazette<\/i>, Rachael Pacella reports:<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

A vendor testing equipment at the Anne Arundel County Fire Training Academy in Millersville in September unintentionally released aqueous film-forming foam into a storm drain, which flowed into Bear Branch, blanketing the water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 100 dead black-nosed dace, possibly suffocated by the foam covering the water\u2019s surface, were found after the Sept. 24 incident, Maryland Department of Environment spokesperson Jay Apperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In California, a woman brought a class action lawsuit against\u00a0Thinx\u00a0Inc., alleging that the company\u2019s\u00a0absorbent\u00a0underwear\u00a0contains\u00a0unsafe levels of PFAS.\u00a0Bloomberg Law<\/i><\/a>\u00a0has that story.\u00a0And you can check out this story from\u00a0September from\u00a0E&E News<\/i>\u2019 Ariel Wittenberg about the toxic threat \u201clurking\u201d in menstrual products.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We know it\u2019s tough to read about all these different\u00a0cases of contamination and cleanup. But even with so much happening in the world right now, paying attention to PFAS is critical. That\u2019s why we made a short video on our site,\u00a0Groundwater War: New Mexico\u2019s Toxic Threat,\u00a0about why to care about PFAS.<\/p>\n\t