To all of our friends and partners in California impacted by the devastating wildfires, Merit Laboratories is here to support you. When wildfires ravage communities, natural landscape, and places we call home, the impact is major. Lives are interrupted while homes, schools, and businesses are destroyed. Another significant impact of wildfires is environmental contamination.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to address the growing concerns over PFAS by adding nine new compounds to the Toxics Release Inventory. This move aims to improve transparency and provide better data on the presence and release of these persistent chemicals in the environment.
The analysis of PFAS by EPA 1633A and ASTM D8421 is part of the U.S. EPA’s Methods Update Rule (MUR) Rule 22. The action will promulgate EPA into 40 CFR Part 136. Also part of this action, PFAS method ASTM D8421 is proposed to be codified.
The congressional bill recently introduced that would require the U.S. Geologic Survey to monitor for PFAS received a hearing on June 13th. The PFAS Detection Act, introduced in March, authorizes the U.S. Geologic Survey and the U.S. EPA to coordinate and develop PFAS testing standards. The bill requires that the USGS monitor for PFAS nationwide in water through a five-year, $45-million program.
Residents can now track the locations of PFAS sites in Michigan, which continues to grow. According to the most recent update to the PFAS Map Tracker from the Michigan EGLE (formerly MDEQ), the number of confirmed PFAS contaminated sites has grown to 52. The PFAS site map shows sites spread across Michigan.
The MDEQ has been directed by the governor to begin the process of creating PFAS drinking water standards. The MDEQ will file a Request for Rulemaking to establish maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). As part of the governor’s direction, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) will form a science advisory workgroup to review health-based drinking water standards to support the rulemaking process and make recommendations by July 1.
The list continues to grow. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team’s (MPART) list of sites where the MDEQ has confirmed detections of PFOA and PFOS in groundwater has grown by another 16 sites. The list now includes the following sites.
The United States Senate introduced legislation that would classify PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund (CERLCA/SARA). The legislation, if enacted, provides an enforcement and cost recovery tool for the U.S. EPA to track down polluters and hold them responsible for clean-up costs associated with PFAS contamination.
Last month, Merit Laboratories introduced you to the advisory report on the Scientific Evidence and Recommendations for Managing PFAS Contamination in Michigan. The report, authored by the Michigan PFAS Science Advisory Panel with support from state agency staff, provides a detailed look at Michigan’s PFAS contamination crisis.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its PFAS Action Plan for addressing the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) challenges facing the nation. The PFAS Action Plan addresses short-term solutions for addressing PFAS and long-term strategies that will help provide the tools and technologies needed to provide clean drinking water and address PFAS prevention and contaminant control at the source.
