#image_title
View this post on Instagram
WATCH: EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in Fayetteville this week as the Biden administration finalized strict limits on certain so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. Officials say this will reduce exposure for 100 million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers.
The rule is the first national drinking water limit on toxic PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are widespread and long lasting in the environment. The chemicals are widespread in the North Carolina water supply. Regan, a NC native, says the rule is the most important action the EPA has ever taken on PFAS.
PFAS chemicals are hazardous because they don’t degrade in the environment and are linked to health issues such as low birth weight and liver disease, along with certain cancers. The EPA estimates the rule will cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year, but doing so will prevent nearly 10,000 deaths over decades and significantly reduce serious illnesses.
Over the last year, EPA has periodically released batches of utility test results for PFAS in drinking water. Roughly 16% of utilities found at least one of the two strictly limited PFAS chemicals at or above the new limits. These utilities serve tens of millions of people. The Biden administration, however, expects about 6-10% of water systems to exceed the new limits.
Water providers will generally have three years to do testing. If those test exceed the limits, they’ll have two more years to install treatment systems, according to EPA officials.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for North Carolinians and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at Cardinal & Pine has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of North Carolina families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
In new carbon plan, Duke Energy gambles on coal
Duke Energy, North Carolina’s largest utility, cites the Trump administration’s rollback of air pollution regulations and increases in power demand...
6 homes collapse into the Outer Banks surf as Atlantic hurricanes swirl far offshore
Five of the Outer Banks homes, once propped on high stilts, collapsed Tuesday afternoon in Buxton. A sixth in Buxton collapsed overnight in North...
OPINION: Where Western NC stands a year after Hurricane Helene
This week, as we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene–one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit western North Carolina–it’s...
OPINION: Where Western NC stands a year after Hurricane Helene
This week, as we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene–one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit western North Carolina–it’s...
A groundbreaking climate author sees hope in the Sun
In 1989, Bill McKibben wrote the first mainstream warning about climate change. Considered the preeminent climate change journalist in the country,...
