PFAS Story Archives - Page 6 of 7 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

House Votes to Monitor Toxic PFAS Chemicals, Sends Bill to White House

In Washington, D.C., the House of Representatives passed amendments to end military use of toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS in firefighting foam and food packaging, and to expand efforts to monitor for PFAS pollution.

Amendments added to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 would:

Phase out military use of PFAS in firefighting foam by 2025.
End the use of PFAS in military food packaging.
Expand water quality monitoring for PFAS.
Ensure proper incineration of military PFAS wastes.
Accelerate PFAS clean-ups at military facilities.
Provide an additional $5 million for a PFAS study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Designate PFAS as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA, the Superfund law.
Require the Government Accountability Office to study Defense Department cleanup efforts.
Create an online health database for military personnel.

The House also approved an amendment to restrict industrial PFAS discharges into drinking water supplies, and an amendment to designate PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law.

These fluorinated chemicals were long used in the Ohio Valley for use in nonstick cookware and other products and have since contaminated a number of drinking water systems. The chemicals were linked to cancer and reproductive harm through health monitoring research conducted in the region. PFAS have since been found in the drinking water of millions of Americans, according to research conducted by the Environmental Working Group. The group created an interactive map that lists contaminated sites across the country.

West Virginia’s Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito was among lawmakers to originally propose amendments to the defense bill. The Senate approved the measures last month.

A statement from the White House earlier this week indicates that the president will be advised to veto the bill, in part because of these amendments.

Capito Among Senators Seeking Faster EPA Action On PFAS Chemical Pollution

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators including West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito this week introduced two bills aimed at further regulating a group of toxic chemicals known as PFAS.

The chemicals include PFOA, or C-8, used to make nonstick products and other similar chemicals used in flame retardants. They have been detected in at least 10 water systems in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Exposure has been linked to some cancers and thyroid problems at very low levels.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year pledged to address the chemicals. In February, the agency released its long-awaited “PFAS Action Plan” that outlined steps it intends to take to address the public health impacts of these widely-used chemicals. EPA said it will begin the process of proposing drinking water limits by the end of this year. Environment and public health advocates say that timeline is unacceptably slow given the health risks and extent of contamination.

Many lawmakers in both parties also want more action. More than a dozen bills aimed at addressing PFAS contamination have been introduced in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Capito and Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York introduced a bill that would mandate the EPA to set legal limits, or Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), for PFAS chemicals in drinking water under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The “Protect Drinking Water from PFAS Act of 2019” requires the final MCLs be issued within two years.

In an interview, Capito said while she has found EPA to be responsive, efforts to address PFAS contamination need to be more transparent and move more quickly.

“EPA has said they’re moving in this direction, but nothing moves and agency quicker or faster than a bill or than legislation that says you have to do this by date certain,” she said.

Environmental groups praised the legislation.

“This bipartisan, common-sense proposal should send a signal to the Trump administration that this out-of-control PFAS contamination crisis needs serious leadership from Washington,” Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement.

The non-profit this month updated its map of nationwide PFAS contamination. EWG estimates at least 610 locations in 43 states are known to be contaminated with fluorinated chemicals, including drinking water systems serving an estimated 19 million people.

Similar bipartisan legislation was recently introduced in the House.

A hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on these and related bills is set for next week. It follows a hearing this week in the House.

Transparency

Capito and Gillibrand introduced another bill, the “PFAS Release Disclosure Act” on Thursday, with co-sponsor Sen.Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware. It aims to improve the availability of information about the use and release of PFAS chemicals by adding hundreds of substances to a federal chemical database called the Toxics Release Inventory.

Capito said regulating these chemicals as a class was the easiest way to address them.

“I think we have incomplete information here,” she said. “This isn’t an issue that we feel that we’re fully informed on and I think that’s part of the reason you’ve seen a quick succession of legislation move forward.”

She also noted more work needs to be done to help communities with contamination with what are often costly cleanup efforts.

Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with PFAS contamination for decades, including Martinsburg in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Last year, the city sued the Air National Guard to recover millions of dollars spent to install a water treatment system at the city’s water filtration plant after PFOA and PFOS from firefighting foam used by the Air National Guard infiltrated the water supply.

EPA To Limit PFAS Chemical Contaminants Found In Some Ohio Valley Water Systems

This story was updated at 4:15 p.m.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it will move forward with a series of actions to regulate toxic fluorinated chemicals, including proposing drinking water limits by the end of this year. But environment and public health advocates say that timeline is unacceptable.

In its long-awaited “PFAS Action Plan,” EPA laid out a series of actions to address the widespread contamination of fluorinated PFAS chemicals. Those chemicals include PFOA, or C8, which has been detected in several water systems in the Ohio Valley. The chemicals were used in a variety of products, including non-stick cookware, stain resistant clothing, and flame retardants.

Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with C-8 contamination for decades, and a court-ordered health monitoring program in the Ohio Valley linked exposure to a variety of health risks.

“This action plan represents a pivotal moment in the history of the agency and a pivotal moment for public health environmental protection,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, speaking at a press conference in Philadelphia. “This is the most comprehensive cross-agency action plan for a chemical of concern ever undertaken by the agency.”

Among the actions outlined in the plan, EPA said it will:

“Propose a regulatory determination,” or take the next step to determine a Maximum Contaminant Level, or MCL, for PFOA and PFOS.
Continue enforcement actions (EPA has already done eight).
Clarify cleanup strategies for PFAS contamination and soon release interim groundwater cleanup recommendations for contaminated sites.
Expand research into the human health and ecological effects of exposure, how PFAS chemicals spread and how best to remove them from the environment.
Continue the process to of adding PFAS under the Superfund law.
Consider placing PFAS chemicals in the Toxics Release Inventory, a publicly available database containing information on chemical releases and other waste management activities.
Develop a plan to better communicate the risk to the public of exposure to these chemicals.

EPA’s plan was met with enthusiasm by some groups dealing with PFAS contamination. The National Ground Water Association, an Ohio-based trade group, said it was pleased with the agency’s actions to list PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law. Once listed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, states affected by the chemical contamination will be able to receive federal help holding polluters accountable.

The group also praised the agency’s decision to move forward with the regulatory process for creating drinking water standards for two PFAS chemicals frequently found in drinking water, PFOA and PFOS.

Concerns Surface

As more details emerged from the agency, however, environmental groups and some lawmakers expressed concern about the agency’s timeline for setting drinking water standards.

“It has taken the EPA nearly a year just to kick the can even further down the road,” said Senator Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

In a statement, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia was more measured. Capito has repeatedly met with EPA Acting Administrator Wheeler on the PFAS issue and last week joined a bipartisan group of senators to urge the agency head to set a standard.

“It’s encouraging to see the EPA taking action to address something that has proven to be a real problem in a number of communities across the country—including in West Virginia,” Capito said. She added she intends to “remain actively engaged to push EPA to complete the process expeditiously and put that standard in place.”

In a call with reporters, Dave Ross, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, stressed the agency will go through the rulemaking process set out by the Safe Drinking Water Act. That will include using the most up-to-date science and taking public comment.

“We are going to move as quickly as we possibly can to do this,” Ross said, adding that whatever EPA proposes will likely be challenged in court. “So we will move with all deliberate speed.”

Potential Delays

But what that speed could look like is “up in the air,” said Genna Reed, lead science and policy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Safe Drinking Water Act gives EPA the authority to create drinking water standards for chemicals. MCLs set legally enforceable limits on the amount of a substance allowed in public drinking water systems.

In order to consider setting an MCL for a chemical, the agency must prove the pollutant adversely affects public health, is widespread in public water systems, and that regulation would reduce health risk.

EPA committed to starting that process in its action plan. Reed said now the agency will begin the process of filtering through the science surrounding these chemicals, a process she fears could face interference by political appointees at the agency who have ties to the chemical industry.

EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Nancy Beck, formerly worked at the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group. The White House’s nominee to head EPA’s Office of Land and Energy Management, which manages the Superfund program, is former Dow Chemical Co. counsel, Peter Wright.

“There absolutely could be a determination that PFOS and PFOA should not be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which we would argue is perhaps not in line with the best available science,” she said. “So, it’s really important to follow and see what the EPA does here and to make sure that they’re consulting with their science staff and really listening to what they’re saying on these two chemicals.”

Currently, EPA has issued a health advisory for the chemicals of 70 parts-per-trillion, but some states, including New Jersey, have adopted lower acceptable contamination levels.

During his Thursday press conference, EPA Acting Administrator Wheeler said the agency is already taking enforcement actions to cleanup contaminated drinking water if levels are higher than the health advisory recommendation.

Reed, with the Union of Concerned Scientists, noted if a MCL is created for PFOA and PFOS, it would trigger much more monitoring. For example, water systems would be required to provide water quality reports showing how much of these chemicals are found in their systems.

Uncertain Risks

Public health advocates also raise questions about continued exposure to potentially unsafe levels of PFAS chemicals while the agency considers creating drinking water standards.

The Environmental Working Group estimates 110 million Americans drink water with dangerous PFAS levels. EPA estimates PFAS have been found in the blood of 98 percent of Americans.

A report released last year by theAgency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), found PFAS chemicals can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the EPA says is safe.

The report, ortoxicological profile, draws upon the best available research. At 852 pages, it is aimed at giving public health officials a comprehensive picture of how fluorinated chemicals may affect human health as well as highlight the different ways people may be exposed to them.

The study finds people are exposed to fluorinated chemicals in a variety of ways including through contaminated soil and water, food packaging laced with the chemicals, and some more directly by living near plants that manufacturedC8.

It also finds exposure to high levels of some fluorinated chemicals may affect fertility, increase cholesterol levels and increase the risk of thyroid disease.

David Andrews, senior scientist with Environmental Working Group, said there is already an overwhelming body of scientific evidence about the health impacts of PFOA and PFOS, informed largely by a study conducted in the Ohio Valley following a settlement agreement with DuPont.

“At this point there is close to or over 100 studies of their impact on human health really indicating the potential to cause impacts to our immune system, reproduction, development as well as all the other health effects including cancer, impacts on liver, kidney,” Andrews said. “Really, it’s just an incredible range of our bodies’ functions that these chemicals can really interrupt and disrupt.”

He noted the agency’s new plan does not address the thousands of other chemicals in the PFAS class, many of which researchers know little about. In the United States, more than 600 PFAS chemicals are allowed for use. EPA said it intends to do toxicity assessments for a handful.

“It was very much unclear what if any action they would take for other chemicals in this class,” Andrews said.

Cincinnati-based attorney Rob Bilott, who successfully brought at class action lawsuit representing more than 70,000 people against DuPont for its dumping of C8, said EPA has for years shrugged off taking action and this latest plan followed the pattern. During the course of the litigation, which lasted more than two decades, internal communications from DuPont were made public that showed the company knew about the chemical’s health effects since the 1950s.

In 2001, Bilott wrote to the EPA detailing what DuPont knew. Fifteen years later the agency released its health advisory.

“EPA has been promising to address the serious public health threat posed by PFAS chemical exposures for almost 20 years,” Bilott said. “Promising to conduct more studies, investigations and further work toward formal regulatory action at some point in the future, is not the same as actually taking formal regulatory action now.”

The agency said it will “explore” placing PFAS chemicals on its Toxics Release Inventory. If completed, that would allow for better tracking of how they are released into the environment.

EPA’s action plan states it intends to include PFAS in next Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR. During the last round of testing, EPA found that 1.3 percent of the public water systems monitored had concentrations of PFOA and PFOS that were greater than the agency’s health advisory limit.

When asked at what level the agency would screen for PFAS chemicals, Wheeler said career staff would make that determination.

Plan to Manage Toxic 'Teflon' Chemicals Delayed by Shutdown — EPA Nominee

During a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler was pressed by members of the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works about the impact of the government shutdown on the agency as well as his beliefs on climate change.

Wheeler noted one casualty of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now in its fourth week, is that a long-awaited long-awaited plan on regulating the PFAS group of chemicals has been delayed.

Fluorinated PFAS chemicals include PFOA, or C8, which has been detected in several water systems in the Ohio Valley. Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with C8 contamination for decades.

“Our PFAS management plan we were hoping to unveil it next week with the shutdown it’s going to be delayed slightly,” Wheeler told the committee. “It’s in the middle of interagency review.”

EPA has previously said the management plan would recommend whether some of these widely-used toxic chemicals used to make non-stick items should be declared “hazardous” under the federal Superfund law.

If the agency takes this step, it could gives states more options for cleaning up contamination.

The agency has said it is also considering whether it should set legally-enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water, a move that has garnered bipartisan support.

Ranking Committee Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) pushed Wheeler to commit to the action, as did West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito (R).

In an exchange, Capito said she “couldn’t tell” from Wheeler’s earlier statements on the PFAS plan if the document would contain drinking water limits.

“We are going to be recommending and moving forward on a number of different areas under a number of different statutes we’re looking at on the water side as well as the CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act], Superfund side and the TSCA [Toxic Substances Control Act] program as well,” he said. “This is going to be, when it comes out, our management plan, a multimedia approach to dealing with PFAS/PFOA.”

“So, that’s a no?” Capito asked.

“I can’t go into the specifics of what’s in the plan because it’s currently in interagency review,” Wheeler replied.

PFAS Priority

Wheeler’s comments come after months of EPA efforts to highlight the issue. Last year, the agency held a nationwide meeting on PFAS contamination and a series of public listening sessions across the country.

Some environmental groups have expressed concern the agency will downplay the issue given the Trump Administration’s goal to roll back many environmental regulations.

Last year, a draft report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the Centers for Disease Control, was blocked by federal officials.

It found these fluorinated chemicals can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the EPA’s current recommended exposure limits.

The agency’s point person for the PFAS plan, Peter Grevatt, director of EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, retired from the EPA in December.

The Murray Connection

Wheeler also faced tough questions from Democrats on his beliefs over climate change and the extent to which, if confirmed, the EPA under his leadership would focus on reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. Multiple lawmakers pointed to several high-profile rules issued by the agency last year — including the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and Clean Car Rule — where EPA’s own analysis shows carbon emissions will increase.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse a Democrat from Rhode Island questioned the nominee on his relationship with his most recent former employer — coal company Murray Energy.

After leaving the Senate in 2009, Wheeler worked as a lobbyist for at the D.C.-based law firm and lobby shop Faegre Baker Daniels. One of his clients was Murray Energy. During the hearing, Wheeler said for the last four years he worked with Murray Energy he worked exclusively to shore up the pension fund for the United Mine Workers.

Murray has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s EPA and its efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Weeks after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Murray gave the White House a wish list of environmental rollbacks, many of which have now been completed.

Whitehouse sought more information on Wheeler’s involvement in the so-called “Murray Action Plan,” including whether he sought a meeting with then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

“Can you tell me now how many meetings with ta officials for Bob Murray did you arrange, attempt to arrange or attend and with whom?” Whitehouse asked.

After prodding, Wheeler said two — a March 2017 meeting with Energy Secretary Rick Perry and one at the White House. He reiterated he had not attended nor set a meeting at EPA to discuss the plan.

The response did not seem to satisfy Whitehouse.

“I don’t want to play ‘gotcha’ with you,” he said. “What I do want is true, factual complete answers from you.”

Toxic 'Teflon' Chemicals On EPA Regulatory Agenda

Environmental Protection Agency officials told a Congressional panel Thursday that the agency will announce by the end of the year whether it will take the next step to regulate a group of toxic fluorinated chemicals found in some water systems in the Ohio Valley.

The PFAS group of chemicals, which include PFOA or C-8, were widely used to make nonstick products and flame retardants and have been detected in at least 10 water systems in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Exposure has been linked to a number of health effects.

EPA’s Director of the Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water, Peter Grevatt, told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that the agency will decide if some of those chemicals should be declared “hazardous” under federal law.

Grevatt said if the agency takes this step, it could gives states more options for cleaning up contamination.

“This will give very important tools for states and local communities to address these PFAS challenges at local contaminated sites,” he said.

Millions Exposed

Millions of Americans have been exposed to the toxic fluorinated chemicals which have been linked to some cancers and thyroid problems at very low levels.

Emerging science from health studies indicates that EPA’s prior recommendations on exposure are not sufficiently protective of health.

In June, a draft report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the Centers for Disease Control, found these fluorinated chemicals can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the EPA’s recommended exposure limits.

State regulators who testified stressed the inconsistencies across federal agencies on what level of PFAS exposure is considered safe has led to increased public concern and driven some states to develop their own metrics.

Lisa Daniels, president of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, said EPA needs to take the lead and develop Maximum Contaminant Levels, or legally enforceable limits on the amount of a substance allowed in public drinking water systems.

“States, water systems and the public need national leadership now to address this issue and for us the question is not whether to regulate, but when and how and make sure it’s done using sound science,” she said.

Regulatory Concerns

Some Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups say EPA’s deregulatory agenda under the Trump administration could undermine efforts to deal with PFAS contamination.

Erik Olson with the Natural Resources Defense Council told the committee he is concerned EPA will not take swift action.

“Unfortunately, the agency has known about this problem for more than a decade and there hasn’t even been a determination that a standard is necessary,” he said. “I didn’t even hear the agency commit to making a determination in the testimony earlier today.”

Previously Blocked Federal Study Raises Alarm About C8 Chemicals

The Trump administration today released a politically charged study on the health impacts of perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals, including the compound known as C8, which has been detected in some water systems in the Ohio Valley.

The draft report, released by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), finds these fluorinated chemicals, which are used in some nonstick products and flame retardants, can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the Environmental Protection Agency has previously said were safe.

Pressure on the Trump administration has been mounting for weeks to publicly disseminate the study. A growing number of lawmakers and advocacy groups have pressed the White House for action following news reports that the EPA had blocked its release.

Both West Virginia Senators, Joe Manchin (D) and Shelley Moore Capito (R), praised the release of ATSDR’s report.

“After repeatedly pushing the administration to make these findings public, I’m very glad to see it release this study today,” Capito said in a news release. “The information contained in the report will help determine potential threats our communities face as a result of certain water contamination issues, and that’s critical to ensuring the health of West Virginians.”

The report, or toxicological profile, draws upon the best available research. At 852 pages, it is aimed at giving public health officials a comprehensive picture of how fluorinated chemicals may affect human health as well as highlight the different ways people may be exposed to them.

The study finds people are exposed to fluorinated chemicals in a variety of ways including through contaminated soil and water, food packaging laced with the chemicals and some more directly by living near plants that manufactured C8.

It finds exposure to high levels of some fluorinated chemicals may affect fertility, increase cholesterol levels and increase the risk of thyroid disease.

Olga Naidenko, senior science advisor with the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, said the analysis especially highlights how these chemicals are toxic to developing fetuses, pregnant women and young children.

“ATSDR’s profile really highlighted how very low, low doses can be harmful to developing fetuses, but also, for example, to the immune systems of young kids,” she said. “That’s something that EPA’s profile didn’t do.”

In 2016, the EPA issued a health advisory for some PFAS chemicals, including PFOA, or C8, and the related compound PFOS, often linked to flame retardant foam sprays.

The EPA says water contaminated with more than 70 parts-per-trillion is unsafe to drink. Naidenko said since the EPA conducted its own study of these chemicals, much more research has been published, and that research was included in this new report.

“It certainly represents a science and policy advance on this important issue,” she said.

Understanding how exposure to C8 and other fluorinated chemicals affects human health hits close to home in the Ohio Valley. Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with C8 contamination for decades.

Dupont’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, dumped over 7,000 tons of C8 sludge in a nearby landfill where it leached out. The chemical polluted streams and exposure killed nearby livestock in the late 1990s. A lawsuit against DuPont on behalf of residents resulted in a settlement and established health studies which have expanded the knowledge of health risks.

In 2016, PFOA and PFOS contaminated firefighting foam used by the National Guard contaminated the city’s drinking water plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia.The city paid $4.5 million to install water treatment filters, and recentlysued the National Guard for damages to recoup those costs.

The new report also recommends Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for some PFAS chemicals. MRLs are an estimate of the amount of a chemical a person can eat, drink or breathe each day without it posing a health risk. Public health officials at both a federal and state level use these health-based values to determine if a community is at risk from chemical exposure.

ATSDR only suggested levels for oral ingestion of some PFAS chemicals. For PFOA and PFOS, the risk levels listed were far lower than what the EPA considers safe. The agency will take comments on the toxicological profile for 30 days.