West Virginia lawmakers are expected to introduce legislation in 2023 aimed at regulating PFAS chemicals in the state’s drinking-water systems.
Commonly found in Teflon cookware, water-resistant clothing, fast-food packaging and other consumer goods, PFAS have been linked to cancer, immune suppression, neurodevelopmental disorders, thyroid disease, decreased fertility and other conditions.
Luanne McGovern, a member of the board of directors of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, explained that The Clean Drinking Water Act of 2023 – modeled after last year’s House Bill 4055 – would outline a strong set of actions to curb residents’ exposure to the chemicals.
“The legislature, first off, wants to set state-specific maximum contaminant levels for certain PFAS chemicals,” said McGovern. “They also want to establish a PFAS action-response team to go after some of the really high areas. They also want to require facilities that are using PFAS to report their use.”
Last summer the Environmental Protection Agency released drinking-water health advisories for some PFAS compounds, listing the threshold of contamination least likely to cause harm to human health. The advisories are only recommendations and are not enforceable.
Last week the agency released its new PFAS database, which it says will help public-health experts and scientists better understand potential PFAS sources in their communities.
A federal study released in 2022 found PFAS in 67 West Virginia public water systems, out of more than two hundred tested.
McGovern pointed out that the bulk were concentrated along the Ohio River, in the Parkersburg area, and in the eastern panhandle – all highly populated regions.
“I think,” said McGovern, “having this study has really empowered people to go to their local water treatment, their local town or city, and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing with this? What are we doing to put in the right equipment to be taking PFAS out of our drinking water?'”
Meanwhile, some manufacturers are moving away from using the chemicals. The company 3M announced last month a plan to phase out PFAS by the end of 2025.
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South Dakota and all other states have seen the effects of so-called “forever chemicals.”
Those pushing for their removal say 3M’s announcement it will phase them out is another step in the right direction. The major manufacturer of products from cleaning supplies to Post-it Notes said it plans to ensure it’s no longer producing items containing PFAS chemicals by the year 2025.
John Rumpler, clean water program director for Environment America, said it is an important step in trying to reduce harmful pollutants from reaching natural resources.
“PFAS chemicals are toxic, and they persist in the environment,” Rumpler explained. “They’ve been contaminating drinking water sources all across the country.”
The chemicals were also used in firefighting foam, and the City of Sioux Falls took legal action against 3M and other companies over the presence of PFAS in the soil and groundwater near the city’s airport. 3M said it made the decision based on changes in the business and regulatory landscape.
In August, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said it would propose designating certain PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances.
Other companies, such as retailers and restaurants, have made similar pledges to eliminate or reduce forever chemicals in food packaging, textiles and other products. Still, Rumpler argued others need to follow suit, and hopes Tuesday’s announcement will spur more action.
“3M is hardly the only game in town,” Rumpler pointed out. “But it is a major player in the industry space and a significant marker for its peers about moving in the right direction.”
As part of the evolving research surrounding PFAS contamination, experts have linked the chemicals to multiple health risks, including increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer, as well as small decreases in infant birthweights.
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Representatives from multiple indigenous tribes in the Northwestern United States are traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to discuss an issue of international consequence: The government of British Columbia is planning to increase mining in the province, in areas bordering Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Washington.
A number of existing mines are already affecting U.S. watersheds with measurable increases in toxins. The main threat comes from tailings, the finely ground rock or sand that remains after the valuable minerals have been extracted. Tailings contain toxic chemicals and are often stored in lakes, held in place by earthen embankments known as tailings dams.
Erin Farris-Olsen, regional executive director for the Northern Rockies, Prairies and Pacific at the National Wildlife Federation, said the planned increase at the Copper Mountain Mine will result in one of the largest such dams in the world.
“They plan to increase production by 70% and raise its tailings dam from 492 feet to over 850 feet,” she said. “So, this would make that operation alone the second or third tallest tailings dam in the world.”
The mine sits in the Columbia River watershed, and Environmental Protection Agency testing in 2019 found elevated levels of selenium in water and fish in the nearby Kootenai River and concluded it is being impacted by upstream mining in British Columbia.
In 2016, British Columbia’s Auditor General issued a report on compliance and enforcement in the mining sector. It noted that if the Canadian Ministry of Environment was unable to effectively enforce regulations on selenium levels in the cross-border Lake Koocanusa, it could be a violation of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. That agreement stipulates that waters crossing the U.S.-Canadian border will not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property.
Farris-Olsen said selenium and mine waste pollutants in general are a threat to the ecosystem.
“They stay in the stream for a long time,” she said, “and they affect the fish and spawning of fish in the stream, and then animals that utilize those fish for food and the ultimate success of the fish populations themselves.”
Among the tribal leaders meeting with the EPA and Interior Department officials are representatives of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. Richard Janssen Jr., who heads the tribes’ Department of Natural Resources, said the selenium contamination is already a problem.
“This selenium is having detrimental effects to our resources, which we hold dear,” he said, “namely our fish, our wildlife, our cultural resources, our plant resources and our water.”
He said he wants the mines to delay expansion until the mining company fixes the existing problems.
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The U.S. is talking with several nations as part of an emerging framework for trade policy, and in the Midwest, there are concerns about the ripple effect on farmers and consumers when it comes to pesticides.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework involves more than a dozen countries and has four negotiating pillars, including decarbonization and anti-corruption.
Steve Suppan, senior policy analyst at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said while there are motivations to move away from standard trade ideals, influence from large agribusiness firms still might complicate things. Pesticides are one of them.
“Some of the IPEF countries have pesticide policies that are rejecting US imports that have pesticide residues on horticulture and grain exports,” Suppan observed.
He predicted it will lead to calls for the elimination of “zero tolerance” policies, with companies arguing they will disrupt the delivery of food. There is added concern the discussions will happen behind closed doors.
The Pesticide Action Network said the U.S. already has lax pesticide rules, and states like Iowa do not strongly enforce existing guidelines, impacting farmers’ health and food safety.
Rob Faux, communications manager for the Network, who also has a farm in Iowa, said the U.S. and its agriculture sector have become too used to the reliance on pesticides.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re blasé,” Faux contended. “‘It’s just a pesticide, and we use it all the time.’ “
Faux pointed to a proposal in Congress, the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act, as a way to incorporate incremental improvements. He argued it would give regulators more teeth to keep harmful products off the market.
“That would change the process of both registration, making it a little bit more difficult, a little more burden of proof to show that it’s safe,” Faux suggested. “And then removing the chemical if it does show that there are dangers and problems with it would become easier”
While the future of the bill is uncertain, supporters say it also protects local governments and their ability to adopt their own pesticide rules. Some in Congress have been fighting a patchwork of regulations.
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