{"id":875,"date":"2021-01-19T19:01:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T19:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/?p=875"},"modified":"2021-02-02T17:27:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T17:27:51","slug":"new-pfas-study-reveals-forever-pollutants-persisting-in-nms-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/groundwater-war\/2021\/01\/19\/new-pfas-study-reveals-forever-pollutants-persisting-in-nms-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"New PFAS study reveals \u2018forever\u2019 pollutants persisting in NM\u2019s waters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\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\tNew PFAS study reveals ‘forever’ pollutants persisting in NM’s waters\n\t<\/h1>\n\t

Laura Paskus<\/p>\n\n\t

Winding its way through forests of conifer and aspen, cottonwoods and sycamores, the Gila River\u00a0descends\u00a0out of the nation’s first\u00a0wilderness area,\u00a0designated in 1924. For\u00a0almost a century,\u00a0a U.S. Geological Survey\u00a0stream gage\u00a0just below that boundary has tracked the river’s flows.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, samples from that spot reveal the presence of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The channel of the Rio Puerco, where it hits Bernardo, New Mexico, is dry for most of the year, except when snowmelt or summer floods send\u00a0waters\u00a0churning down this tributary of the Rio Grande.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been found there, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same goes for the Canadian River near Sanchez, New Mexico, and below Conchas Dam. The Pecos, San Juan, and Animas rivers. And the Rio Grande.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), the U.S. Geological Survey\u00a0(USGS)\u00a0tested groundwater and surface water\u00a0in 16 counties to find where PFAS are present and which specific types of those toxic substances have found their way into the state’s waters. The tests did not reveal\u00a0alarmingly high\u00a0levels of the pollutants at any one site. But the presence of PFAS was widespread geographically.\u00a0Given their toxicity-as well as the fact that they persist within waters, soils, and bodies “forever”-the results are notable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NMED officials were not surprised by the\u00a0findings,\u00a0even those\u00a0high in the Gila watershed, protected since before the chemicals were invented.\u00a0Rebecca Roose, director of the Water Protection Division at NMED, says that’s because “these chemicals are being discovered in ground and surface waters around the globe.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

An\u00a0October 2020 study estimated that more than 200 million Americans<\/a>\u00a0could have\u00a0the toxic\u00a0chemicals within their drinking water supplies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Some people are going to feel like this hits a lot closer to home than others,” says Roose of the sampling results. “I think that the more people understand about the potential for contamination from PFAS chemicals in our surface waters, in our drinking water sources across the state, they’re going to want to pay attention because they care not just about the water that they, their families, and their neighbors drink-but about the whole state.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\t