Known as the gateway to Glacier National Park, Kalispell, Montana, has long taken pride in its pristine water supply. So when “forever chemicals” were detected in the groundwater in 2021, city officials were stumped.
“You can’t look at the levels in your well and say, ‘This PFAS was from this source and that PFAS was from that source,’” said Bennett, who now leads science policy at the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “So unless there’s some novel PFAS that only one company makes, it’s not going to be something that we can figure out who it was or who’s at fault.”