DEP Goes After PFOAS and PFOS and Hold Polluters Accountable

The Department of Environmental Protection is identifying five companies it says are responsible for the extensive contamination and directing them to fund millions of dollars in assessment and cleanup effort. The directive issued today requires the five companies – Solvay, DuPont, Dow DuPont, Chemours and 3M – to provide the DEP a detailed accounting of their use and discharge of polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, collectively referred to as PFAS chemicals, in New Jersey. The DEP issued the directive under the authorities granted by New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act and Air Pollution Control Act.

“This is critical that DEP is going after these companies to make them clean up their mess they made.

The Spill Act directive is one of the most powerful tools in NJ to hold polluters accountable and require them to clean up the toxic chemicals they have dumped into the environment. This is a major step forward in cleaning up PFOAs and PFOS and enforcing New Jersey clean up laws against polluters,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey. “DEP is putting force back into enforcement by holding polluters accountable and protecting our drinking water.”

These state laws empower the DEP to act to prevent environmental pollution, enforce environmental laws and obtain documentation about the discharge of pollutants. Earlier this month, the DEP established interim specific groundwater quality standards for both PFOA and PFOS, at 10 parts per trillion and will make 14ppt the actual standard. New Jersey is among the first states to pursue regulation of these compounds.

“These companies are required to come up with a plan to cleanup their toxic chemical spills. If they don’t move forward, DEP can come in and assess damages for those toxic sites. They can also asses NRD for any impacts to wildlife and drinking water. The interim standard is 13-14ppt, but it should be 10ppt. Once the standard is formally adopted, the drinking water standard must be 13-14ppt because both groundwater and drinking water standards in New Jersey are tied together,” said Tittel. “DEP’s interim standard for PFOAS and PFOS is still the toughest in the nation for protecting our drinking water and cleaning up toxic sites. New Jersey will be the first state to do this.”

PFOAs and PFAs are also associated with serious health risks, including testicular and kidney cancer; liver tissue damage; weakened immune systems and increased cholesterol; and developmental problems like low birth weight, accelerated puberty and skeletal variations, the notice said.  The federal Environmental Protection Agency detected PFOA in levels of at least 20 parts per billion in 14 drinking water systems, including Ridgewood Water, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Wallington and Hawthorne.

High levels of the chemical were also found in Burlington County, New Jersey, in a stream that runs from a wastewater plant at the Maguire-Fort Dix-Lakehurst military base to Rancocas Creek.

“It’s important that DEP is finally taking action in adopting stronger standards for companies to abide by. Once the standard is adopted, it will apply to Join Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst. The standard will be required by the Department of Defense to clean up the contamination there. PFOS was found at the base and the surrounding areas in Burlington County. In Salem and Gloucester County, PFOs found near the Solvay site were seven times over standard. We have even found PFOS in our fish, even from the most pristine areas,” said Tittel. “Repeated exposure to PFOS can lead to development defects in children and pregnant women, liver and kidney problems, and even tumors.”

New Jersey’s standard for PFAS will be the strongest in the nation. More importantly it will protect this state’s drinking water from the lack of action of the federal government to do so. The Trump Administration decided not to set a drinking water limit for two toxic chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS. This means there will be no federal requirements for utilities for testing or removing the chemicals from drinking water supplies.

“New Jersey has to make its our own standards for harmful chemicals in our water because we can’t trust the federal government to make stronger enough ones to protect our communities. We thank the Murphy Administration and DEP for adopting stricter standards for PFOAS and PFOS. However, DEP must set stricter standards for the more than a dozen chemicals found in our waterways. It’s too important for our health and the environment,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.