Read the full article by Anika Jane Beamer (Inside Climate News)
“Harmful ‘forever chemicals’ flow from wastewater treatment plants into surface water across the U.S., according to a new report by a clean-water advocacy group.
Weekslong sampling by the Waterkeeper Alliance both upstream and downstream of 22 wastewater treatment facilities in 19 states saw total per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations increase in 95 percent of tested waterways after receiving discharge from the facilities. Some of the waterways supply drinking water to nearby communities.
The study also found increased PFAS levels downstream of 80 percent of waterway-adjacent fields in eight states treated with ‘biosolids,’ solid matter recovered from the sewage treatment process and spread on farmland as fertilizer.” …