The US Environmental Protection Agency has set legally enforceable drinking water limits for a group of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, marking what public health advocates hailed as “historic” rules that will dramatically improve the safety of the nation’s water. Though the rules only address several PFAS compounds, the technology water utilities are installing will address many of the compounds. However, the technology does not address some of the newly discovered “ultra short chain” PFAS that are not well studied. Public health advocates say the problem highlights the need to regulate PFAS as a class and prohibit their non-essential uses.
Water utilities have long opposed the rules because they did not want to have to pay for upgrades, which they say will cost billions of dollars and lead to increased bills for customers.
The nation “cannot afford to say don’t regulate because it’s too expensive”, said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA official now with the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “We have to have clean water but I agree that the cost needs to be shifted back to an industry that lied to us for decades and knowingly poisoned our water,” she added.