Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories
EPA sets limits on PFAS in drinking water; a $750 million PFAS settlement; PFAS contaminate global water surfaces; EPA finalizes rule to reduce chemical plant emissions.
“A huge victory for public health”: EPA set limits on PFAS toxins and drinking water
US regulators last week put in place the nation’s first legally enforceable limits for levels of six toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water, saying the moves should prevent thousands of deaths and reduce serious illnesses in people across the country.
The rule is designed to reduce exposure to these per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – also called “forever chemicals” – for about 100 million people nationwide, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Exposure to PFAS has been linked to “deadly cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children,” the EPA said.
“Today we can celebrate a huge victory for public health in this country,” Rob Bilott, a lawyer who has become famous for his work against PFAS, said in a statement. Bilott has spent decades pushing for PFAS regulations and for holding PFAS manufacturers accountable for releasing the dangerous chemicals into the marketplace.
“It should never have taken this long to address such serious threats to public health and our environment,” Bilott said, noting that he first alerted the EPA to the presence of PFAS in US drinking water more than twenty-three years ago. (Read the rest of the story.)
Firefighting foam company reaches $750 million PFAS settlement
The company Tyco Fire Products last week reached a $750 million settlement to help resolve claims related to its firefighting foam, which allegedly contaminated drinking water systems with harmful PFAS chemicals for decades.
Once the settlement is approved, an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 US public water systems could receive money to treat contaminated drinking water, said Joe Rice, co-lead attorney for the plaintiffs with the Motley Rice law firm. Water systems that test positive for PFAS by May 15 may be eligible to benefit from the settlement.
“$750 million towards this problem, that is a huge contribution,” said Rice.
Tyco, a subsidiary of Johnson Controls, does not admit liability or wrongdoing by agreeing to the settlement.
The announcement builds on last summer’s landmark settlements from the companies 3M, Dupont, and others, which could total up to nearly $14 billion to assist affected water systems as they test for and clean up PFAS contamination. 3M’s settlement received final approval April 1. (Read the rest of the story.)
Unsafe levels of PFAS contaminate global water sources, study finds
A large part of the world’s surface waters and groundwater contains toxic PFAS chemicals at levels higher than regulators consider safe for drinking water, according to a new analysis of data from more than 45,000 water samples collected from around the world.
The data points to Australia, China, Europe and North America as hotspots for contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), although the authors suggest this may be skewed due to higher levels of sampling in these regions.
The findings, which were published April 8 in the journal Nature Geoscience, come as regulators in the United States prepare to set the first enforceable drinking water limits for certain types of PFAS. Many US states and other countries have already set regulations for PFAS in drinking water.
“I was surprised to find out the large fraction of source waters that are above drinking water advisory recommendations,” Denis O’Carroll, an engineering professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia and an author of the study, said in a press release. (Read the rest of the story.)
In “crucial step,” EPA finalizes rule to reduce cancerous chemical plant emissions
More than 200 US chemical plants face new requirements that should slash toxic air pollution and reduce cancer risks for hundreds of thousands of people living near the facilities, officials said last week.
The action formalizes a hotly debated proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut out over 6,000 tons of toxic air pollution annually. The agency is taking specific aim at emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO), which is used in the production of many products and for sterilization of medical equipment, and chloroprene, used to make synthetic rubber.
Most of the impact would be seen in plants in Texas and Louisiana, as well as in the Ohio River Valley, in communities that have become notorious for high rates of cancer. People living near a chloroprene plant in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, face a cancer risk 50 times higher than the national average, for instance. The community has been dubbed “Cancer Alley.”
“This final rule delivers on EPA’s commitment to protecting public health for all, especially communities historically overburdened by pollution,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a press conference. (Read the rest of the story.)