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Why would anyone be interested in a dimensional pairing of numbers on Earth Day? Well, it's all about the Global Wave to Halt Plastics sponsored by Earthday.org for the year 2024. The message behind the paired numbers is the organization's goal to demand the reduction of the use of plastics by 60% by the year 2040.
Old problem with new consequences. The 2024 campaign "Planet vs Plastics" is really about a rapid expansion of plastic production and use in so many phases of our daily lives, and the problem didn't just happen overnight. The production and use of plastics started decades ago, but according to Earthday.org, today's reality reflects that "plastic production now has grown to more than 380 million tons per year. More plastic has been produced in the last ten years than in the entire 20th century, and the industry plans to grow explosively for the indefinite future." If this expansion continues, the volume of plastic that is generated - that journeys into not only landfills but litters our oceans and waterways - will continue to degrade into microplastics, ending up in our water supplies, posing a huge threat to every form of life on our planet. What can we do? It would be easy to fold our arms and say there is nothing we can do to stop this eventual outcome, but there IS something each of us can do. First, we can stop the purchase and use of plastic water bottles. According to Earthday.org, the reality is that it takes 6 times more water to produce the plastic container than the volume of water in the container itself! Another impactful area is the clothing industry. "Approximately 85% of garments end up in landfills or incinerators, with only 1% being recycled. Nearly 70% of clothing is made from crude oil, resulting in the release of dangerous microfibers when washed and continued contribution to long-term pollution in landfills." The Challenge - let's learn more and DO more now. Let's think about our consumption and the convenience that's being marketed into our daily lives and take those small but impactful local steps to change our future. Be a voracious reader about this mounting plastic problem. Be a change agent. Take an action today to make tomorrow better.
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In a website announcement on April 10th, 2024, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) stated they will be adopting the EPA's new Federal drinking water regulation for PFAS. A comparison of Washington State Action Levels (SAL) with the new EPA mandated maximum contaminant levels (MCL) follows:
According to information published by the DOH:
* GenX chemicals have not been found in Washington State ** Hazard Index is a long established approach EPA uses to understand health risk from a mixture of chemicals. The index is made up of a sum or fractions. Each fraction compares the level of each PFAS measured in the water to the health-based water concentration The DOH has announced that "State SAL's will remain in effect until the Washington State Board of Health adopts the new federal MCLs which can take up to two years." Like the writing and passage of any law, this will take time for the state to adopt the Federal regulation (which is more stringent in nearly every category) as their own legally binding law in Washington. This law should be in place before the EPA's required mandate to have treatment in place within the prescribed five year limit to treat water to meet MCLs for the stated PFAS chemicals. Further, the DOH has stated they will work with public water systems to address treatment, reduction of exposure, and work to leverage any state and federal funding they can. It is encouraging that the state of Washington will move beyond simple reporting requirements when PFAS is found in the drinking water, to now mirror Federal requirements that mandate actual TREATMENT levels. This more restrictive rule will reduce exposure risks from the stated PFAS chemicals in our drinking water and is a step in the right direction for the state of Washington. The EPA has worked diligently over more than a decade to study and issue a Safe Drinking Water rule that sets the maximum contaminant level (MCL) allowed in drinking water for several different Per - and Polyfluoroalykl Substances (PFAS) compounds and mixtures of these compounds. Known as "forever chemicals" their complex chemical structures do not readily break down in the environment and are known to bioaccumulate in humans and mammals and create numerous health risks.
So how bad is our groundwater? It is estimated by the US Geological Survey that PFAS now contaminates approximately 45% of the nation's drinking water sources including public and private wells. Two specific compounds, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as well as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), pose the highest risk in drinking water and the MCL for these two substances has been set at 4 parts per trillion (ppt) or nanograms per liter (ng/L). Both PFOA and PFOS have been found in concentrations exceeding this new MCL for drinking water in several of the City's wells and nearly ALL system tests for the reservoirs that store and pipes that convey our drinking water. Well 13 (which has temporarily been shut down) has exceeded this new standard for PFOS by over 6 times the required MCL. And what does this mean for me as a resident drinking water supplied by the City of Camas? The City has up to five years to design and install treatment to reduce these contaminants below the required maximum contaminant levels. The good news is that a consultant hired by the City earlier this month has begun fast-tracking the design of treatment for just one of the contaminated wells (Well 13) to bring that well into compliance with the new rule (which will become a US Regulation once published in the Code of Federal Regulations later this year). And now for the rest of the story...While Camas is in compliance with the state of Washington's advisory levels on each of the wells, the reality is all they MUST do right now is notify the residents if/when a well exceeds the state action level. No treatment is required until the Federal regulation prescribed cutoff (compliance for treatment 5 years from now). Moreover, how do we address the other contaminated wells and system tests that have exceeded the new established MCL? The elephant in the room. We must quit ignoring the "elephant in the room" - the source of the PFAS - and put steps in place to identify and quickly remediate that source and have the responsible party(ies) who caused that contamination pay for its cleanup. Finding the source is complex, however we have good science and knowledge about how groundwater moves, how surface waters interact with groundwater, and how groundwater quality is ultimately influenced by our actions on the land. While we do not know the source, we must vocalize finding the source as a priority to our elected officials and overseeing agencies. Without your voice, it's our pocketbooks that are paying the $1.6M dollar contract to the consultants advising the City on next steps while the contamination continues. Additionally, the estimated cost for constructing the treatment system for Well 13 stands at $6.5 M dollars. That cost does NOT include the annual operation and maintenance costs for running that treatment system. What you can do to help. Helping out is a few clicks away. One way to have your voice heard is by clicking on this interactive map link to provide input to the City of Camas for their "Our Downtown Camas 2045" campaign. The map allows you to drop a pin and leave a short comment for opportunities or concerns you might have affecting areas such as public health and safety. You will already see several pins near the mill site where specific comments were shared. You can also support our online petition to expand the GP Mill cleanup investigation. We encourage you to follow this issue with us as we are tracking other important events such as a Public PFAS workshop session sponsored by the Department of Ecology early in the summer. Stay tuned. |
AuthorGlen DeWillie is interested in exploring the risks and potential underlying problems causing degraded water quality in our surface and groundwater resources that impact our very lives. It is his hope to bring some of these issues to light, while working to find innovative solutions that result in improved water for recreation and drinking water consumption for all Camasonians. Archives
December 2024
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