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.
Years of underinvestment in Michigan’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, schools, transit, water and sewer systems, railways and energy systems, have left the state in a precarious position, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2018 Report Card for Michigan's Infrastructure and the 21st Century Infrastructure Commission.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) released an update on the foam that often appears on Lakes and Streams. The EGLE routinely receives complaints about foam on rivers or lakes. This foam can be naturally occurring foam or foam caused by environmental pollution. Many things can be introduced into a lake or stream that may cause foam to form.
In a growing trend, another 72 sites with PFAS contamination have been added to the latest list of Michigan sites. The newest Michigan EGLE PFAS Map Tracker shows that the number of confirmed PFAS contaminated sites has grown to 165, up from 93 in June 2020. The latest list of PFAS contamination includes sites spread across Michigan, throughout both the lower and upper peninsulas, in rural, suburban, and urban areas.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently began requiring wastewater treatment plants that land apply biosolids to have PFAS laboratory testing performed prior to the land application. The EGLE Water Resources Division started sending out notifications about this new program to affected parties this year. Merit Laboratories provides analytical laboratory testing for PFAS in biosolids sample matrices to support its wastewater clients meet their regulatory requirement obligations
On March 11, 2021, the EPA proposed the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) UCMR 5, which will require sample collection for 30 chemical contaminants, including PFAS. The testing will occur between 2023 and 2025 using analytical methods developed by EPA and consensus organizations.
The number of PFAS contaminated sites in the United States continues to expand at a rapid pace. According to the PFAS Contamination Site Tracker, managed by Northeastern University’s Social Science Environmental Health Institute (SSEHRI), there are now 1,244 sites with PFAS contamination and 1,114 water systems contaminated with PFAS.
The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) has published a new sampling guidance document for leachate samples. MPART’s Leachate PFAS Sampling Guidance document covers the processes, decontamination procedures, and acceptable materials for sampling landfill leachate for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The U.S. EPA is moving forward on the required next step in regulating PFAS in drinking water by issuing final regulatory determinations. After receiving more than 10,000 public comments, the EPA made the announcement on January 19, 2021, that they would follow the rulemaking processes required by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Updated cleanup standards were announced by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). For groundwater used as drinking water, EGLE has included five additional PFAS compounds to Part 201, making the total number of PFAS regulated in groundwater to seven compounds. Effective December 21, 2020, the compounds PFNA, PFHxS, PFHxA, PFBS, and HFPO-DA
Merit Laboratories recognizes organizational leaders in PFAS science, which includes The Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC). The ITRC is a state-led coalition working to reduce barriers to the use of innovative air, water, waste, and remediation environmental technologies and processes.
