States Go It Alone On ‘Forever Chemicals’ As EPA Delays Federal Action

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

States are taking action to protect agriculture and waterways from harmful “forever chemicals” as they await federal regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Critics say this has resulted in inconsistent and inadequate regulations exposing much of the country’s soil, air, and water to contamination by the chemicals.

According to the EPA, it is working through a very complex problem concerning a huge category of chemicals.

“The agency is committed to working closely with our partners to take a fresh look at the risks and the tools available to support our rural and agricultural communities on this issue,” the EPA told The Epoch Times in a statement.

At issue are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are a group of more than 14,000 chemicals that have been used in stain- and water-repellent fabrics, nonstick cookware, food packaging, and firefighting foams since the 1940s because of their resistance to heat, oils, stains, grease, and water.

However, they do not degrade naturally and are almost impossible to destroy, earning them the “forever chemicals” appellation. According to the EPA, PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive issues, immune disorders, reduced vaccine response, hormonal issues, and weight gain.

In the early part of the 1970s, PFAS chemicals began to show up in soil to which biosolids had been applied.

Dredged as sludge from the bottom of wastewater treatment tanks and treated to reduce or eliminate harmful substances, biosolids have been sold or given to farmers as a low-cost fertilizer for more than 50 years.

An EPA draft assessment of two PFAS chemicals states that treated sewage sludge containing 1 part per billion of PFAS could pose a serious health risk.

An EPA statement reads, “The findings of the draft risk assessment underscore the importance of proactive federal and state policies to control and remove PFAS at their source.”

States face numerous challenges in dealing with PFAS, according to The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), a national nonprofit association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.

These challenges include inadequate funding, a lack of technical expertise, and dependence on EPA commitments that appear to have been put on hold.

ECOS’s mission is to help state agencies protect health and the environment, according to its website.

State biosolids regulations vary. In Maine and Connecticut they are banned, while Alabama allows almost unfettered use.

Maine has taken one of the most aggressive postures toward PFAS chemicals in biosolids. A spokesman for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection declined to comment and directed The Epoch Times to the department website.

Maine’s biosolids battle began in 2016 when PFAS were found at a dairy in Arundel, about 81 miles south of the state capital, Augusta. State investigators determined that cattle grazing on land treated with biosolids consumed grass that had absorbed the chemicals from the treated soil. This resulted in the cattle producing contaminated milk.

They also determined that the chemicals had spread far beyond the dairy.

In 2022, Maine implemented Public Law 2021, banning the land application of biosolids. The law also mandates testing of all wastewater treatment plant effluent, farmland, drinking water, and any products or environmental matter that could be contaminated.

The law provides state assistance with cleanup and remediation to owners of contaminated land. It provides bottled water or filtration systems for those whose water is contaminated.

Maine’s response to PFAS contamination in biosolids could be a model for other states, according to Mya Heard, a researcher in Northeastern University’s PFAS Project Lab.

Maine took a three-pronged approach of legislative, scientific, and public policy angles, Heard wrote in a Maine Policy Review article.

“Future case studies on state PFAS governance will offer comparative analyses and can strengthen the case for an interdisciplinary approach that leverages multiple scales of governance,” she wrote.

Although Maine and Connecticut ban biosolids, the treated sewage sludge is still commonly used on farm fields around the country.

The EPA reports that wastewater treatment plants produce an average of 3.76 million dry metric tons of biosolids each year. Approximately 56 percent of this is disposed of by land application.

According to a report from the National Biosolids Data Project, 53 percent of the biosolids produced in the United States are applied to almost 18 percent of all farmland. The bulk of that is used to grow livestock feed.

Similar numbers are reflected in Alabama. In response to health concerns, nuisance odor complaints, and complaints about biosolids imported from other states, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management set new biosolids regulations in 2020.

The new rules established nutrient management planning and property line setback requirements for land application of biosolids. The rules are meant to reduce odors, protect the environment, and address complaints from neighbors.

Regina Allcorn lives on a 68-acre property in Etowah County, Alabama. The centerpiece of her family’s land is a lake.

Allcorn said her family cannot eat fish from the lake because they are contaminated with PFAS from neighboring land treated with biosolids.

She said she believes that biosolids distributors force landowners who do not use the sludge to live with contaminated water, foul odors, health problems, and an uncertain future.

“It’s your home and you shouldn’t feel that way,” she told The Epoch Times.

Alabama Department of Environmental Management spokesperson Lynn Battle declined an interview request but stated in an email to The Epoch Times that Alabama regulations are based on the most current science.

“As appropriate and based on new or revised EPA regulations and requirements regarding activities that impact our air, water, or land resources, [Alabama Department of Environmental Management] has and will continue to implement measures to ensure its programs address the issues as noted in any Federal regulation,” Battle wrote.

In a white paper titled “Processes & Considerations for Setting State PFAS Standards,” ECOS presented information from survey responses it had received from 43 states.

According to the ECOS, Alabama is one of 14 states that has no enforceable guidelines, although the state tests for PFAS and publishes its data. The other states are Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

ECOS stated that in April 2024, the EPA set enforceable drinking water standards for only five of the more than 14,000 known PFAS chemicals.

“At this time, the U.S. has no federally enforceable PFAS standards for other PFAS or for these PFAS in other environmental media, leaving individual states to navigate various avenues for addressing contamination,” the paper states.

“Some states have established legally enforceable values for certain PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, soil, or air. Other states and regulatory agencies have opted for non-enforceable values.”

According to ECOS, most state activity focuses on drinking water. Some states also test wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent and compare those data sets with EPA guidelines.

Some states have laws prohibiting them from setting regulations more stringent than those set by the EPA. These states, including Alabama, are waiting to use the expected EPA standard as a guide.

Read the rest here…