Multiple community water systems in Texas are reported to exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new regulatory limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
Forty-nine systems have more PFAS than the new regulation allows.
The initiative to tackle PFAS in water comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which has earmarked $9 billion for removing chemicals from the water.
“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That is why President Biden has made tackling PFAS a top priority, investing historic resources to address these harmful chemicals and protect communities nationwide. Our PFAS Strategic Roadmap marshals the full breadth of EPA’s authority and resources to protect people from these harmful forever chemicals.”
According to the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS are chemicals used to make firefighting foam, waterproof clothing, nonstick cookware, and stain-resistant fabrics.
Texas Cities Face Expensive Treatments
The local news listed several Texas cities with PFAS levels exceeding the new limit, including Fort Worth.
Local governments responsible for the water systems are required to address the PFAS by 2026.
“Even though the rule does give us more time to come into compliance, we’re not delaying our plans or anything,” said Mary Gugliuzza, the Fort Worth Water Department’s media relations and communications coordinator, adding that city officials are expected to be awarded a contract for treating PFAS in water over the summer despite there being “not a lot of technologies available,” and what is available “is going to be very expensive.”
According to the report, the city is considering activated carbon used in water filtration, which would trap the PFAS.
According to the EPA, it’s “the most studied treatment for removal.”
‘A Drop in the Bucket’
Gage Zobell, a partner with the international Dorsey & Whitney law firm, told ABC that the “federal funding will not come close to covering the cost of removing PFAS” from community water systems, which leaves local governments with only two options: increasing fees to pay for upgrades or suing the companies that put the PFAS in the water.
“The need for easy access to water is becoming expensive,” Mr. Zobell said.
The AWWA said that new technologies aren’t “a silver bullet” for PFAS in water.
“Also, the cost of remediation technologies can vary dramatically, depending on the extent of contamination, the selected remediation method, and the scale of the project,” AWWA said.
In 2023, several Texas cities, including Fort Worth, rejected settlement agreements with companies responsible for releasing PFAS into the community water systems.
“If you are having thousands of utilities doing treatment projects, those are not going to be just $2 billion but significantly, significantly more expensive than that,” Mr. Harder said. “Without any other funding mechanism, those costs get transferred to the ratepayer.”