Utilities Voice PFAS Liability Fear as Chemicals Head to Superfund List

Abstract

May 30, 2022 Mary B. Powers and Debra K. Rubin KEYWORDS environmental regulation / Hazardsous waste cleanup / PFAS / PFOA, PFOS Order Reprints No Comments The cleanup market for PFAS chemicals will accelerate in every state, last for decades and cost tens of billions as the Biden administration closes in on its plan to label two major groups as hazardous enough for Superfund list status and to set drinking water contamination limits for up to 29 substances, say industry participants. Once EPA establishes a Maximum Contaminant Level for PFAS in drinking water, the company said it "Anticipates a major increase" in related site engineering and construction work in the U.S, noting that many affected entities have already begun to address contaminants in water supplies. "The agency simply cannot proceed by regulating them one-by-one. That will take millennia for them to regulate," Erik Olson, Natural Resources Defense Council senior strategic director for health, told ENR. The group has urged EPA to set drinking water standards for other PFAS chemicals, including GenX, PFBA, PFBS, PFHxS and PFNA. Limits for individual PFAS chemicals, for which EPA now has toxicity values, should be set at about 2 ppt to 4 ppt, he said. The PFAS Action Act of 2021 that passed the House but remains up for Senate action, requires EPA to set new PFAS standards under several federal laws. With the chemicals ubiquitous in the environment, "Water, wastewater, stormwater and water reuse systems passively receive PFAS from these sources," the groups said. The companies caused or contributed to PFAS contamination of the state's "Air, soil, sediment, biota, surface water, estuaries, submerged lands, wetlands, groundwater, drinking water and other natural resources," said the state. The complaint cited 126 contaminated drinking water systems in 86 communities with elevated levels of PFAS, including many having levels "Hundreds to thousands times higher" than the state's maximum contaminant level of 20 ppt for six specific PFAS chemicals.