Read the full article by Jacob Resneck (Coast Alaska)
“Alaska lawmakers are considering a bill that would expand testing and regulations for PFAS chemicals in drinking water, which has been linked to cancer and other serious health conditions.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, has sponsored legislation that would police seven varieties of the so-called ‘forever chemicals,’ which don’t break down and often enter the environment from firefighting foams used at airports.
‘These things are bad for people in extremely small amounts. We’re talking about parts per trillion in your drinking water,’ Kiehl told the Senate Finance Committee on April 12.
PFAS action levels altered in 2019
State regulators in 2018 began policing six varieties of PFAS in the final days of Gov. Bill Walker’s administration after PFAS was discovered in drinking water in wells across Alaska. The incoming Dunleavy administration watered down those regulations the following year. They now mirror federal standards and apply to two of the most common varieties of PFAS.
Among other things, Senate Bill 121 would expand action levels to seven varieties and lower the threshold of what are considered acceptable levels of PFAS in drinking water. The upshot would be more households and businesses with PFAS in their groundwater could be eligible to receive alternative sources of drinking water from the state by entering the regulatory standards directly into law.
Kiehl told the Senate committee that the bill would also heavily restrict the use of the most common contamination source in Alaska — firefighting foams that contain PFAS — except in certain cases.
‘The bill has an exception for those in the oil and gas business until an alternate firefighting substance is found,’ he said.
Many firefighting foams designed to put out fuel fires contain PFAS.”…