Recent Environmental Protection Agency regulations should force polluters to pay the price and clean up sites that have been contaminated with PFAS, often described as "forever chemicals."
The new regulations have established stricter guidelines, increasing pressure on polluters to remediate affected land — which includes military locations.
What's happening?
According to an article published in Grist, the EPA established the first drinking water regulations on PFAS earlier this year. Per the article, 80% of active and decommissioned military bases have been found to have excessive levels of PFAS. As a result, per the new regulations, over 700 military sites and surrounding communities will likely require remediation.
PFAS, which stands for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are thought to be highly toxic chemicals that have unfortunately been discharged into sites across the country by the U.S. military and large corporations. PFAS usually take an estimated hundreds or thousands of years to break down in the environment.
Due to their toxicity, when PFAS enter the environment, they pose serious health risks to surrounding communities. Numerous studies have linked PFAS to heart disease, cancer, liver complications, and developmental issues.
These harmful toxins also threaten the health of the local ecosystem. Over time, PFAS leach chemicals into the soil, disrupting the plants and animals that live within the contaminated site.
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Why is the new EPA regulation important?
PFOA and PFOS are two types of PFAS that the EPA now lists as "hazardous substances" under the federal Superfund law. This new categorization makes it easier for the EPA to require polluters to clean up the contaminated sites. The new regulation also caps exposure to PFOA and PFOS at the lowest detectable limit "that the EPA believes is technologically possible," according to Grist, acknowledging that any amount of exposure to PFAS is potentially unsafe.
By establishing stricter categorizations, the EPA is catalyzing the remediation process in areas where PFAS have contaminated the environment and are threatening the health of the local communities.
What's being done about sites contaminated by PFAS?
Communities affected by PFA pollution have taken action by filing lawsuits against polluters in an effort to hold them financially responsible for both the health and environmental damage they have caused.
"The heart of the issue is, how quickly are you going to clean it up, and what actions are you going to take in the interim to make sure people aren't exposed?" asked Tony Spaniola, cofounder of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network, in the Grist report about PFAS at military sites.
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