By: Bill Lucia
Washington State Standard
April 10, 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the rules Wednesday. The state established a program targeting the hazardous chemicals in drinking water in 2021.
Washington regulators will adopt a drinking water standard the federal government issued Wednesday that’s meant to limit people’s exposure to a class of harmful chemicals used for decades in firefighting foam and manufacturing.
The new rules target per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS for short, and sometimes called “forever chemicals” because of how long they take to break down in the environment and people’s bodies.
It’s the first time the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a legally enforceable maximum level in drinking water for the chemicals, which have been linked to cancers, heart and liver problems, and developmental damage in children.
In Washington, at least 1,228 water systems have tested for PFAS and 30 detected contamination greater than “action levels” the state’s Board of Health approved in 2021. Dealing with the contamination in Washington alone is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The EPA’s new federal limits for the chemicals are mostly lower than Washington’s, meaning they’ll be more stringent and protective of human health, the state’s health department noted.
“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement.