Water officials in Kentucky spotted a worrying increase of one specific chemical in the local drinking water, according to NPR, and their attempts to address it revealed a frustrating level of corporate coddling. 

What's happening?

Last December, officials at the Louisville Water Company identified a "sudden spike" in levels of HFPO-DA in drinking water.

More commonly called "GenX," HFPO-DA is one of several synthetic fluorochemicals used to create polymers, and it's classed as a "forever chemical," or PFAS.

As the name suggests, PFAS are designed to be durable — and they are incredibly slow to break down in the environment and the human body.

The Louisville Water Company draws from the Ohio River, and when levels jumped, they were 15 times higher than the month before. PFAS are measured in parts per trillion, which city water quality director Peter Goodman acknowledged was difficult to conceptualize.

"A part per trillion is like one second in 32,800 years. Put your head around that," Goodman said. 

Ultimately, Goodman and other water officials identified the source of the contamination: Chemours, a factory hundreds of miles away in West Virginia.

As NPR noted, Chemours obtained permission to discharge "some chemicals" into the river, but the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged the facility "exceeded the legal limits repeatedly over several years."

Why is this concerning?

The outlet spoke with Nick Hart of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, who argued that the concept of legalized contamination itself was flawed.

"Environmental regulatory permitting is a license to pollute. You're permitting someone to put something into the atmosphere, into water, into soil that would not be there otherwise," Hart began. 

Do you feel safe drinking the tap water where you live? Always 👍 Most of the time 🙂 Not usually 😟 Never 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"And so when we talk about the safe — stop using the word safe, right? This is the maximum allowable limit." 

Goodman told NPR that drinking water isn't the only way PFAS enter the human body, citing packaging, "pre-fixed" foods, and other common items as other ways forever chemicals can enter and linger in the human body.

Research has detected PFAS contamination in the blood of a staggering 99% of Americans, even newborns, evidencing how pervasive this form of pollution is. 

Forever chemicals are linked to a number of serious adverse health outcomes, including liver damage, thyroid problems, reproductive complications, and cancer. 

What's being done about it?

NPR noted that PFAS can be removed from drinking water, but the process is costly. 

Hart pointed out that, instead of externalizing costs to the taxpayer, companies could also refrain from discharging PFAS into public water supplies.

"It's so much easier, so much less costly to prevent something from getting in there than it is going to be from removing it," he remarked.

Hart's observation was similar to that of Judith Enck, a former EPA official and founder of Beyond Plastics. Enck appeared on Adam Conover's Factually! podcast on Dec. 10 to discuss plastic and PFAS, where she touched on who ultimately bears these costs.

"And it's you and I who pay for [water filtration], not the people who create all the waste," Enck said.

Locally, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition has sued Chemours over an alleged pattern of violations.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices — and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club.