Read the full article by Jon Hurdle (NJ Spotlight News)
“Already subject to some of the strictest rules in the country governing ‘forever chemicals,’ New Jersey’s public water systems — and their ratepayers — could soon be facing higher costs to comply with new federal rules that these pollutants be virtually eliminated from drinking water.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday took landmark action and formally adopted plans to require that concentrations of the most common kinds of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances be reduced to the lowest levels yet.
New Jersey currently has some of the most stringent standards of any state when it comes to PFAS. The chemicals are subject to strict limits because of their suspected threats to public health. But the EPA rules go further than even New Jersey’s and tell utilities nationwide to clear their water of PFAS or else.
Under the new rules, water systems will have three years to test their supplies to find whether they comply with the new limits. If any systems are out of compliance, they will have another two years to meet the standard with additional filtration and other cleaning technology, the agency said.” …