Read the full article by Tom McLaughlin (Pensacola News Journal)
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has added its voice to those of water utilities and conservationists in expressing concerns about the level of dangerous contaminants known as forever chemicals, or PFAS, the city of Milton could potentially be discharging into the ground within the boundaries of the Santa Rosa County’s Wellfield Protection District.
In a letter dated Aug. 8, FDEP Northwest Florida Director Elizabeth Orr notified City Manager Randy Jorgenson that based on the agency’s calculations, when Milton begins discharging effluent at its spray fields on Jeff Ates Road, ‘several PFAS compounds’will be deposited onto the ground in concentrations exceeding EPA standards for drinking water.
Notification to the city followed a review of analytical data related to PFAS chemicals collected for the Naval Air Station Whiting Field lift station, the Milton Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) influent and the Milton WWTP effluent, the letter said.
One chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, would be introduced into the environment at 35 times the levels deemed safe for drinking water, FDEP research showed.”…