Tonight, I came across quite a frightening map - a journalist project tracking the concentration of "forever chemicals" in Europe.
On the bright side though, we can fry our chicken nuggets and be unafraid of scrubbing the pan afterward, huh?
Recent searches
Search options
#pfaspollution
0 posts0 participants0 posts today
There is no national law regarding the use of bio solids as fertilizer. In many states, this treated sewage, which contains harmful PFAS, or "forever chemicals", is being applied indiscriminately to crop land.
It releases toxic substances into air and water, contaminating wells and adjacent land.
#pfaspollution
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/biosolids-pfas-north-carolina-land/
The Cool Down · Farmers face tough decisions after study uncovers side effects of commonly used fertilizer: 'Farmers need to know'Farmers and environmental watchdogs in North Carolina are growing increasingly wary about biosolids.
Just proving that #Trump's administration is TOXIC!
Trump #EPA withdrawal of #PFAS effluent limits is setback for #PublicHealth, #EWG warns
WASHINGTON – "On Tuesday, the Trump Environmental Protection Agency withdrew a pending Biden administration plan that would have protected public health from the chemical manufacturing sector by setting discharge limits on the toxic '#ForeverChemicals' known as PFAS.
"The Trump administration pulled the proposal from White House review – the last step before the agency could release the plan publicly and seek comment on it. The decision is a significant setback for efforts to address the growing public health crisis caused by industrial PFAS pollution of the water supply.
"Coupled with President Donald Trump’s executive order placing a freeze on any new federal regulations, the withdrawal prompts significant concerns from environmental and public health advocates about the future of PFAS regulation and whether tackling the PFAS contamination crisis will be an administration priority.
The following is a statement from Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the #EnvironmentalWorkingGroup:
"Yesterday’s action by the Trump administration to withdraw the long-awaited proposal on PFAS effluent limits is a devastating setback in the fight to protect our communities from toxic 'forever chemicals.'
"This move not only delays establishing critical federal standards but also sends a dangerous message giving polluters a green light to continue poisoning our water and communities without fear of consequence.
"It’s an unconscionable betrayal of the public’s health in favor of corporate interests, and it underscores this administration’s troubling shift in policy which threatens to roll back any progress to protect our #environment and hold #polluters accountable.
"PFAS contamination is already a public health crisis. The science is clear: PFAS are toxic at even the smallest levels, and they have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, immune suppression and developmental harm. Communities across the country, especially those near PFAS-manufacturing facilities, have lived with the devastating consequences of this pollution for decades.
"State regulators have waited for the federal government to lead on this issue so they can incorporate effective monitoring and treatment requirements into their discharge permits. Without federal limits, those efforts remain stalled.
"The Trump administration’s refusal to act now puts even more lives at risk, leaving American communities to fend for themselves as polluters continue their unchecked discharges of toxic PFAS into our water."
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg
#WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #ManMadeDisasters #AFFF #Wildlife #OceansAreLife #PFASPollution
#FirefightingFoam #PFOS
#3M #ForeverChemicals #Environment #BigChemical #CorporateInterests #Corporatocracy #TrumptyDumpty #WhenIdiotsRule #USPol
Meanwhile across the pond...
'Forever chemicals' used on Jersey's potato crops
Alex Green - BBC News
February 4, 2025
"So-called #ForeverChemicals are present in at least four #AgriculturalSprays used in Jersey, including one used on #PotatoCrops, the island's environment minister has said.
"In the States Assembly, Deputy Steve Luce was quizzed on what actions, if any, were being implemented to reduce contamination by sprays containing PFAS in the island's water and environment.
"The minister was also asked to provide a timeline for 'achieving measurable progress' in addressing the issue.
"Luce said his initial discussions with the industry were focused on finding an alternative and stopping the use of such sprays 'as soon as possible'.
Health issues
"PFAS, used in #FirefightingFoam, leaked into the area by the airport's fire training ground in the early 1990s.
"The chemicals, branded forever chemicals because they take a long time to break down, are found in a small quantity in most people's blood, and research is ongoing to determine if higher levels can lead to various health problems.
"After the foam was confirmed to be in #DrinkingWater in 1993, the island's government and the #airport, which it owns, stopped the use of the foam and offered to install new bore holes for affected residents.
"People living in the area believe the #ContaminatedWater damaged crops and caused a litany of ongoing serious health issues.
"The PFAS Scientific Advisory Panel, which makes recommendations, was set up by Public Health in May 2023.
"Members met islanders who participated in the blood-testing programme and, in a draft report, recommended therapeutic phlebotomy for those affected.
"Therapeutic phlebotomy is a procedure that involves removing some blood from the body to lower the concentration of PFAS.
"In September 2024, the advisory panel published a report outlining the impact PFAS exposure had on health.
"The panel found exposure to certain PFAS was associated with #ElevatedCholesterol levels, and said there was evidence suggesting a probable increase in kidney and testicular #cancers among those exposed to certain PFAS materials."
AOL · 'Forever chemicals' used on Jersey's potato crops
Notorious US #ChemicalPlant polluting water with toxic #PFAS, lawsuit claims
Complaint says #Chemours factory dramatized in Hollywood movie #DarkWaters continues to pollute #WestVirginia river
by Tom Perkins, January 27, 2025
"The chemical giant Chemours’s notorious West Virginia PFAS plant is regularly polluting nearby water with high levels of toxic 'forever chemicals', a new lawsuit alleges.
"It represents the latest salvo in a decades-old fight over pollution from the plant, called Washington Works, which continues despite public health advocates winning significant legal battles.
The new federal complaint claims #WashingtonWorks has been spitting out levels of PFAS waste significantly higher than what a discharge permit has allowed since 2023, which is contaminating the #OhioRiver in #ParkersburgWestVirginia, a town of about 50,000 people in #Appalachia.
"The factory was the focal point of a Hollywood movie, Dark Waters. It dramatized the story of how the pollution widely sickened Parkersburg residents, and the David v Goliath legal saga in which a group of residents and attorneys took on Chemours, then part of DuPont.
The findings ‘highlight the importance of careful scrutiny of novel chemicals’, said Irene Jacz, a study co-author and Iowa State economist.
"An epidemiological study stemming from the case blew the lid off of the health risks of PFAS, and ultimately cost #DuPont about $700m.
"Though the landmark case still reverberates across the regulatory landscape, the suit started almost 25 years ago, concluded in 2016, and Chemours’s pollution continues. The new lawsuit is part of other legal actions related to the facility that have filled the gap left by weak regulatory action, local advocates say. The never-ending struggle 'wears you out', added Joe Kiger, a Parkersburg resident who was one of the original litigants in 2001.
"'We have put up with this for 24 years, and [Chemours] is still polluting, they’re still putting this stuff in the water,' Kiger said.
"The new lawsuit, filed by the #WestVirginiaRiversCoalition, alleges 'numerous violations' since the level of PFAS the company is permitted to discharge per a consent order was lowered in early 2023. Among the contaminants are #PFOA, a PFAS chemical to which virtually no level of exposure in drinking water is safe, the #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency (#EPA) has found. It also includes #GenX, a compound for which the EPA has similarly found very low exposure levels can cause health problems.
"The EPA ordered Chemours to take corrective action, but the company has done nothing in response, and the agency has not taken further action, the suit states. The complaint does not mention drinking water, which is largely filtered. But the suit alleges the ongoing pollution prevents residents from using the river for recreation.
"In a statement, Chemours said the 'concerns are being addressed' through the consent order. It also noted it was renewing discharge permits with the state, and was working with regulators 'to navigate both the consent order and the permit renewal process'.
"'Chemours recognizes the Coalition as a community stakeholder and invites the Coalition to engage directly with the Washington Works team,' a spokesperson wrote.
"The EPA and West Virginia Rivers Coalition declined to comment because litigation is ongoing.
"Kiger and others who have taken on Chemours and DuPont railed against the company, accusing it of 'greed' and putting profits above residents’ health. Some in Parkersburg refer to the waste as the 'Devil's Piss'.
"'They do what they can to make money,' said Harry Deitzler, a West Virginia attorney who helped lead past lawsuits.
"'The officers in the corporation sometimes don’t care about what’s right and wrong – they need to make money for shareholders and the lawsuits make everyone play by the same rules.'
"Still, most residents are not aware of the ongoing pollution, those who spoke with the Guardian say. Chemours is a large employer that still wields power locally, and spends heavily on charitable giving. Many remain supportive of the company, regardless of the pollution, Kiger said.
"'That’s the kind of stuff you’re up against,' he added. 'People put a blind trust in them. It could be snowing out and Chemours would tell everyone it’s 80F [27C] and sunny, and everyone will grab their tan lotion.'
"The saga began in the late 1990s when the plant’s pollution was suspected of sickening nearby livestock, and an investigation by attorneys revealed the alarming levels at which PFAS was being discharged into the water and environment.
"A class action lawsuit yielded about $70m in damages for area residents in 2004, but the litigation did not prove DuPont’s PFAS pollution was behind a rash of #cancer, #KidneyDisease, stubbornly high cholesterol and other widespread health problems in the region.
"Instead of dividing the settlement up among tens of thousands of residents, which would have only provided each with several hundred dollars, the money went toward developing an epidemiological study with independent scientists to verify that widespread local health issues were caused by DuPont’s pollution.
"The move was a gamble that ultimately paid off – the study of about 70,000 people showed by 2012 that PFOA probably caused some forms of cancer, #ThyroidDisease, persistently #HighCholesterol, pregnancy-induced #hypertension and #autoimmune problems.
"Subsequent studies have shown links between the chemical and a host of other serious health problems – #BirthDefects, #neurotoxicity, kidney disease and #LiverDisease – that residents in the area suffered.
"DuPont and Chemours in 2017 settled for $671m in costs for about 3,500 injury suits, and have paid more to install water-filtration systems throughout the region. Separately, Chemours in 2023 settled with the state of #Ohio for $110m for pollution largely from Washington Works.
"The EPA and state regulatory agencies have at times been staffed with former DuPont managers or industry allies, and litigation has been the only way to get any meaningful movement, said Rob Bilott, the attorney who led the original class-action suit.
'"It’s infuriating,' Bilott said. 'It took decades of making DuPont documents and internal data public, and getting the story out through movies, news articles, books and public engagement, and that’s what finally pushed the needle here. This is the impact of citizens forcing it through decades of litigation.'
"The latest lawsuit is a citizen’s suit under the #CleanWaterAct. Such suits give citizens the power to ask a judge to enforce federal law when a polluter is violating it and regulators fail to act.
"The lawsuit asks a judge to order the company to pay $66,000 for each day it has been in violation, which is stipulated in the permit. That would total around $50m, but the main goal is to stop the pollution.
"The EPA has acknowledged Chemours is violating the law, but has 'taken no further enforcement action regarding Chemours’s violations as of the date of this complaint', the suit reads."
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/27/chemours-pfas-pollution-lawsuit
Archived:
https://archive.ph/p3wA6
#Environment #PFASPollution #PollutionRunoff #WaterIsLife #DevilsPiss
The Guardian · Notorious US chemical plant polluting water with toxic PFAS, lawsuit claims
#Maine lawmakers introduce bill to create response program for #PFAS threats
February 6, 2025
AUGUSTA (WGME) – "State lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a response program to clean up and reduce threats created by dangerous chemicals known as PFAS.
"This comes months after toxic and potentially #cancer-causing #FirefightingFoam was accidentally sprayed at a former air base in #BrunswickMaine.
"While this bill would monitor PFAS levels, one Brunswick lawmaker says she and others are working on additional bills related to the fallout from that spill.
"'And we’re continuing to advocate for funding, whether it’s through the state budget or leaning on our federal partners, since that substance was put in by the Navy,' Sen. Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) said. 'Because one thing I stand firm to is my constituents, myself, my neighbors, the taxpayers of Brunswick and Maine should not be on the hook for a disaster they did not cause.'
"This bill would allow the state to buy, sell or transfer property contaminated by PFAS and deposit the proceeds into a fund to deal with contamination."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/maine-lawmakers-introduce-bill-to-create-response-program-for-pfas-threats/ar-AA1yz81L
#WaterIsLife #CascoBay
#PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage
#ManMadeDisasters #AFFF
#PicnicPond #Site8Stream
#MereBrook #MerriconeagStream
#HarpswellCove #Wildlife #OceansAreLife #PFASPollution #BrunswickNavalAirStation
#BrunswickStation #Maine #AndroscogginRiver
www.msn.comMSN
High levels of #ToxicChemicals found in #BrunswickMaine airport hangar #sewers
#CitizenPFAS monitoring revealed concerning levels of toxic chemicals in the sewer outfall of #Hangar6 in Brunswick, though a company hired to assess risk at the hangar said there is no leak of the toxic firefighting foams on the premises.
by Kristian Moravec, The Times Record
Posted February 4, 2025, Updated February 5
"A citizens group’s testing revealed that sewer water flowing from Hangar 6 at Brunswick’s airport has high levels of harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS.
"#FriendsOfMerrymeetingBay conducted testing on Nov. 26. The tests detected high levels of a particularly toxic #PFAS chemical compound known as #PFOS. The update comes the same day the owner of the hangar, the #MidcoastRegionalRedevelopmentAuthority, sent a letter to the town stating that tanks that stored the chemicals were not leaking.
"PFOS is a compound known to be harmful to human health and is found in high levels in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Brunswick Executive Airport’s Hangar 4, which is owned by the Navy but operated by MRRA, dumped 1,450 gallons of AFFF concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water on Aug. 19, 2024.
"The spill prompted ongoing cleanup and monitoring efforts as well as a push to get rid of the foam at the airport. Concern has grown around Hangar 6, which some have speculated is leaking harmful chemicals based on the testing data around the airport that Friends of Merrymeeting Bay has collected over the years. The sewage that flows out of Hangar 6, which is not treated for PFAS, ultimately flows into the #AndroscogginRiver."
Original article:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/04/high-levels-of-toxic-chemicals-found-in-brunswick-airport-hangar-sewers/
Archived version:
https://archive.md/LlHx1
Press Herald · High levels of toxic chemicals found in Brunswick airport hangar sewersCitizen PFAS monitoring revealed concerning levels of toxic chemicals in the sewer outfall of Hangar 6 in Brunswick, though a company hired to assess risk at the hangar said there is no leak of the toxic firefighting foams on the premises.
'This is my Chernobyl:' Texas ranchers watch cows die because of PFAS
https://www.wfla.com/news/national/this-is-my-chernobyl-texas-ranchers-watch-cows-die-because-of-pfas/
#pfas #pfaspollution #foreverchemicals #chemicalpollution #texas #ranching #watersafety #waterpollution
Um, all this concern about humans eating wild animals contaminated with #PFAS? How about concern that WILD ANIMALS ARE CONTAMINATED WITH PFAS!
'Do not eat' advisory issued for wildlife harvested in parts of #Kennebec, #Waldo counties
by Ariana St Pierre, WGME
Fri, October 25th 2024 at 6:47 AM
"The #Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife tested wildlife throughout the #Unity, #UnityTownship, #Thorndike, and #Albion area." [Lots of working farms in that area too!]
WGME · 'Do not eat' advisory issued for wildlife harvested in parts of Kennebec, Waldo countiesOfficials are warning residents in eastern Kennebec and western Waldo counties not to eat the wildlife.
Midcoast [#Maine] Regional Redevelopment Authority executive director steps down after [toxic firefighting] foam spill
Story by WGME Staff
October 10, 2024
BRUNSWICK (WGME) -- "The executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is stepping down.
"The #MRRA Board of Trustees says #KristineLogan has resigned.
"Last month, a group of Brunswick leaders and legislators called for Logan's resignation after hundreds of gallons of toxic #firefighting foam spilled in August, more than a year after a report warned that the system was 'deficient.'
"The #BrunswickMaine leaders say they want the group to have increased oversight and accountability."
#WaterIsLife #PFAS #AndroscogginRiver #PFASContamination #AFFF #PFOS #PicnicPond #Site8Stream #MereBrook #MerriconeagStream
#CascoBay #HarpswellCove
#Wildlife #OceansAreLife
#PFASPollution #BrunswickNavalAirStation #BrunswickStation #Maine
www.msn.comMSN
#MaineDEP says expansion of state’s largest landfill would benefit public
The decision allows the state to apply to add 61 acres to the state-owned #JuniperRidgeLandfill, which takes in 52% of the state's waste.
by Penelope Overton
October 2, 2024
"Despite objections from neighbors and environmental groups, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection concluded Wednesday that expanding the state’s largest landfill, Juniper Ridge, would substantially benefit the public.
It’s not an outright approval, but the department’s decision allows the state to apply to add 61 acres to the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, which takes in 52% of the state’s waste. The state claims this expansion would extend the facility’s operating life by 11 years; without it, it would run out of space by 2028.
"DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim’s decision can be appealed to the Board of Environmental Protection and the Maine courts, and several opponents of the proposed expansion, like the Boston-based #ConservationLawFoundation , say they are prepared to challenge the decision.
"'This decision recklessly gambles with public health and the environment,' said #AlexandraStPierre, the director of communities and toxics in the foundation’s #EnvironmentalJustice Program. 'It dismisses the serious concerns raised by the #PenobscotNation and other nearby residents about the harmful effects this expansion will have on their health and community.'
"She continued: 'We refuse to allow this dangerous expansion to proceed unchecked.'
"The foundation and other opponents say the #OldTown location of the facility unfairly places the burden of the state’s trash needs on the Penobscot Nation. The #leachate that #JuniperRidge produces when it rains is sent to a nearby paper mill sewer plant that discharges into the #PenobscotRiver.
[...]
"The amount of waste heading to Maine landfills has increased 34% between 2018 and 2022, according to DEP. #Sludge that was once spread on #agricultural fields is now landfilled due to forever chemical #contamination [#PFAS]. The amount of municipal solid waste landfilled during that time jumped 47%.
"While some people say Maine is not doing enough to divert waste from the #landfills – for example, a bill that would have required large #FoodWaste generators to #recycle their #scraps at a nearby facility died on the appropriations table – others object to #Casella as the facility operator.
"Casella clashed with some municipal leaders and state lawmakers when it refused to accept the #biosolids created by wastewater treatment plants at Juniper Ridge out of fear that the mushy slop, or sludge, was causing structural instability that could lead to the landfill’s collapse."
Original article:
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/10/02/maine-state-needs-to-expand-its-biggest-landfill/
Archived version:
https://archive.md/VXv9m
#WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalRacism #JuniperRidgeLandfill #CasellaWasteSystems #MaineNews #Maine #ToxicFire #PFASPollution
#WabanakiAlliance
#DontWasteME #Slingshot #EnvironmentalJustice #PenobscotNation #PFAS #PenobscotRiver #EnvironmentalInjustice #CompostFoodWaste #ReduceWaste
Press Herald · Maine DEP says expansion of state’s largest landfill would benefit publicThe decision allows the state to apply to add 61 acres to the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, which takes in 52% of the state's waste.
'It's killing us': Public reacts to proposed expansion of #JuniperRidgeLandfill
Story by Katie Delaney
7/16/2024
"'#JuniperRidge has destroyed the life of people who live around it. At times, it has destroyed part of the #PenobscotRiver; it has destroyed part of our air, water, and land,' Don White, a Bucksport resident, said.
"Public commenters expressed concerns about harmful #emissions, #landfill fires, and #PFAS contamination coming from the facility.
"Many of the people speaking out said Juniper Ridge is an example of #EnvironmentalInjustice, particularly for the #PenobscotNation.
"'It's killing us,' #KathyPaul, a Penobscot Nation Elder, said. 'I just feel like I'm sitting here waiting to die, and I don't mean to be an extremist or anything like that, but I'm really afraid. I can smell the difference already.'"
#WaterIsLife #JuniperRidgeLandfill #CasellaWasteSystems #MaineNews #Maine #ToxicFire #PFASPollution
#WabanakiAlliance
#DontWasteME #Slingshot #EnvironmentalJustice
www.msn.comMSN
[It seems that today's vote was in favor of expanding #JuniperRidge]
Juniper Ridge Landfill is one step closer to expanding
Maine Public | By Kaitlyn Budion
Published September 20, 2024 at 1:22 PM EDT
"#Environmental groups are concerned about a draft decision from the Department of Environmental Protection that brings #JuniperRidgeLandfill in #OldTown one step closer to expanding.
"The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued a draft decision approving the expansion's public benefit determination, despite opposition from the #PenobscotNation, area residents and #EnvironmentalGroups.
"Opponents have brought up concerns about odors and contamination from the #PFAS-filled sludge at the #landfill.
"Alexandra St. Pierre with the #ConservationLawFoundation said the group was disappointed by the draft approval and wants the department to give greater weight to comments from the public.
"'We're hoping that Maine DEP will stop making this unnecessary space for waste and make more space for people's voices and the real needs of the community,' she said.
"In the draft, the department outlines several conditions of the approval, including conducting an odor study and installing a system for treating landfill leachate for PFAS.
"Dana Colihan with the environmental nonprofit Slingshot said it's insulting for the DEP to say the expansion is consistent with #EnvironmentalJustice for the surrounding community.
'"When we think about the odors, the #AirPollution, the #contamination of the #PenobscotRiver from the minimally treated leachate, and how all these factors threaten the Penobscot Nation and working-class #Mainers living and the surrounding communities, I can't fathom how the state can argue that this fulfills the required environmental justice criteria,' Colihan said.
"The draft is available for public comment until Friday, Sept. 27, and the DEP is expected to publish the final decision Wednesday, Oct. 2."
#WaterIsLife #SunlightMediaCollective
#JuniperRidgeLandfill
#CasellaWasteSystems #MaineNews #Maine #ToxicFire #PFASPollution
#WabanakiAlliance
#DontWasteME #Slingshot
WMEH · Juniper Ridge Landfill is one step closer to expanding
#PortlandMaine fire department announced they were going to switch to #F3 soon!
#Maine officials look for safer alternatives to #toxic #firefighting foam
by Mal Meyer, WGME
Mon, August 26th 2024
"That's why the [Portland] fire department is turning over to something new soon, called 'F3,' that won't have #PFAS.
"'Over the last 8-10 months, the Department of Defense has approved a couple of different products,' Cenate said.
"The lack of options and cost has been part of the problem.
"'There are certainly challenges for the industry and nationwide moving forward,' Bradbury said.
"The South Portland Fire Department was quoted roughly $138,000 to replace the 3,000 gallons of #AFFF it has, not including the price of disposal.
"'It’s nice that we'll be on the forefront with our transition in October,' Bradbury said.
"It's tough to say how much of AFFF is around Maine.
"A state taskforce in 2019 tried to figure that out but got limited responses and that hasn't been updated since because there's been no funding for it.
"The group estimated there could be up to 48,000 gallons in Maine fire departments alone.
"'There has been discussion about whether or not to do a collection and destruction program,' Maine DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim said. 'Some other states have been doing that over the last several years.'
"In Brunswick, the Navy had been planning to remove AFFF in mid-September, as leaders looked for something more environmentally friendly."
WGME · Maine officials look for safer alternatives to toxic firefighting foamTest results are in on a toxic spill last week at Brunswick Executive Airport.
FFS! Municipalities need to change over to #F3 ASAP!
#Toxic firefighting foam spills into #wetlands after truck fire in #SouthPortlandMaine
by Ariana St Pierre, WGME
Fri, August 30th 2024
"Crews used 47 gallons of #AFFF #firefighting foam to put out the truck's diesel fuel that was burning. That foam contains PFAS or '#ForeverChemicals.'
"Despite their efforts to contain it, firefighters say 70 gallons of foam and diesel fuel spilled into the gravel wetland along Philbrook Avenue and #LongCreek.
[...]
"This comes about 10 days after over 1,400 gallons of firefighting foam containing PFAS spilled at the Brunswick Executive Airport and leaked into a nearby pond [which eventually drains into #HarpswellCove and #CascoBay]."
#PFASContamination
#PFOS #CascoBay #Wildlife #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #PFASPollution #FirefightingFoam #LongCreekWatershed
WGME · Toxic firefighting foam spills into wetlands after truck fire in South PortlandCrews used toxic foam to help put out a tractor-trailer fire in South Portland, which then spilled into nearby wetlands.
TONIGHT! (Thursday, August 29th)
Fighting the foam in #BrunswickMaine: Public forum being held to discuss the spill
Story by Aysia Reed, WGME
"It's been 10 days since toxic firefighting foam spilled in Brunswick. The public will now get to have their say on the release and the cleanup efforts so far.
"The town of Brunswick is holding a public forum at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Council Chamber at Brunswick Town Hall to discuss the spill of more than 1,000 gallons of firefighting foam.
"The Brunswick Executive Airport had the foam stored away in hangar 4 in case they needed it to fight a fire. Last week, a faulty signal to the system caused a malfunction to release the foam, causing it to spill.
"The foam contains PFAS, which is a forever chemical. It leaked into a nearby pond, and the drainage system around the hangar.
"Crews are collecting samples around an outflow pipe that goes from the Brunswick Sewer District into the #AndroscogginRiver.
"Last week, officials said they collected about 6,000 gallons of foam and foam mixed with water."
www.msn.comMSN
#MaineCDC Issues Advisories on Eating #FreshwaterFish Due to #PFASContamination at the Former #NavalAirStation in #BrunswickMaine
Aug 23, 2024
AUGUSTA -- "The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) today issued new freshwater fish consumption advisories recommending either no consumption or limited consumption of fish from four waterbodies located on and around the former naval air station in Brunswick, Maine.
"The testing of fish is part of the United States Navy's ongoing remedial investigation at the former base in response to #environmental contamination from the historic use of PFAS-containing aqueous film forming foam (#AFFF) in fire-fighting operations. Data were collected in October 2023 by the Navy, in coordination with Maine's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and shared with the Maine CDC in spring of 2024.
"The Maine CDC reviewed the data and determined they showed elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, above the agency's recommended levels for regular consumption.
"While testing occurred before the August 19, 2024 accidental release of AFFF at the former naval air station, that incident is not expected to impact the guidance issued today. The waters likely impacted by the AFFF spill are on the east side of the runway at the air station. Today's advisory recommends a no consumption advisory for those waters based on prior testing data.
"Elevated levels of the specific PFAS called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were detected in fish tissue samples collected from #MereBrook (also known as Mare Brook), #MerriconeagStream, #PicnicPond, and #Site8Stream. The new fish consumption advisories listed below apply to all fish caught in these waterbodies.
"In response to the recent release of AFFF and the reported presence of visible #foam on some of these #waterbodies on the eastern side of the runway, the Maine CDC additionally recommends the public avoid any contact with foam on these water bodies. Out of an abundance of caution, the Maine CDC also recommends the public refrain from any recreational activities (e.g., #swimming, #boating, #wading) that could result in contact with the foam or waters until the potential impact of the AFFF release on these waterbodies is fully assessed.
"PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals found in a variety of consumer products throughout the world. Based on a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, exposure to certain PFAS chemicals has been associated with increases in cholesterol levels, decreases in birth weight, lower antibody response to some vaccines, and kidney cancer."
From the CDC website: Map of waterbodies included in the fish consumption advisory on and around the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick.
https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/news/maine-cdc-issues-advisories-eating-freshwater-fish-due-pfas-contamination-former-naval-air-station-fri-08232024-1200
#AndroscogginRiver #CascoBay #HarpswellCove #Wildlife #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #PFASPollution #PFOS #FirefightingFoam
This is #PicnicPond in #BrunswickMaine. It is closed to the public because of #PFAS contamination, but there is plenty of #Wildlife in the area, and the pond empties into #HarpswellCove / #CascoBay.
Image source and more info about Picnic Pond:
https://maineanencyclopedia.com/brunswick-landing/
The Drinking Water Crisis That North Carolina Ignored
For decades, #DuPont dumped toxic PFAS into North Carolina’s #CapeFearRiver. Today, the local community is suffering the health consequences—and fighting back.
June 7, 2021
[...]
"The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (#NCDEQ) filed a lawsuit against #Chemours in 2017—but only in response to bad press—and last fall, the state attorney general filed another. And yet, North Carolina is currently reviewing its water quality standards, something it does every three years, but not one rule for PFAS pollution is even up for consideration. 'People know they’re being poisoned, but the state isn’t doing much about it,' Bell says.
"So residents have been taking matters into their own hands. In July 2018, #CapeFearRiverWatch, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (#SELC), sued the #NCDEQ to force Chemours to immediately stop polluting the Cape Fear River. The following month, the pair also filed a federal lawsuit against Chemours for violating the #CleanWaterAct and #ToxicSubstancesControlAct, but it was dropped later in the year as part of a $13 million #settlement among the NCDEQ, Cape Fear River Watch, and Chemours. The settlement resulted in a consent order that required Chemours to cease its discharges and add #scrubbers to its smokestacks to prevent airborne PFAS pollution. The outcome is a critical step in preventing future PFAS pollution, but NCDEQ has had to fine the company for not complying with the order, and its past contamination, still lingering in the #water, #soil, and peoples’ bodies, remains unaddressed."
Read more:
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/drinking-water-crisis-north-carolina-ignored
#PFASPollution #WaterIsLife
#OceansAreLife #PollutionRunoff #WebOfLife #SoilPollution #Cancer #AirPollution
www.nrdc.orgThe Drinking Water Crisis That North Carolina IgnoredFor decades, DuPont dumped toxic PFAS into the Cape Fear River. Today, a local community is suffering the health consequences—and fighting back....
10 Things We’ve Learned About #PFAS in #CascoBay
Last updated: April 17, 2024
"Concerns about PFAS have surfaced as more of #Maine’s lands and waters are tested. Before 2023, no one had gathered samples from the marine waters of Casco Bay yet. Last year, #FriendsOfCascoBay and Bigelow Laboratories for Ocean Sciences partnered up to test for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Casco Bay. We’ve gathered the results from our first year of samples and have learned some interesting things about PFAS along the way.
1. We found PFAS at all 18 sites we sampled in Casco Bay in 2023.
2. Research shows PFAS to have serious and long-term health consequences.
3. PFAS have been manufactured since the 1940s.
Read more:
https://www.cascobay.org/10-things-weve-learned-about-pfas-in-casco-bay/
#PFASPollution #WaterIsLife
#OceansAreLife #PollutionRunoff #WebOfLife #Maine #GulfOfMaine