| | | Toxic PFAS chemicals have been detected at dozens of groundwater sites across Michigan. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue
The U.S. EPA’s new warnings about the danger of certain PFAS chemicals to human health are a stepping stone toward the development of national drinking water standards.
The warnings also test the limits of laboratory observation.
The new interim advisory levels for PFOA and PFOS are almost inconceivably small. So small, in fact, that laboratory methods cannot detect the chemicals in drinking water at these levels: 0.004 parts per trillion for PFOA and 0.02 parts per trillion for PFOS. The previous advisory level, set in 2016, was 70 parts per trillion combined — more than 10,000 times higher than the new level for PFOA.
For members of the general public who are attuned to drinking water contaminants, the EPA announcement is raising concerns. Many are already asking water systems what they are planning to do about the health advisories.
But unlike federal drinking water standards, health advisories are not enforceable. They are meant as guidance for water utilities, notifying them of chemical concentrations at which health damage can occur.
“It’s thrown a lot of pressure on water systems to do something,” said John Lovie, president of the Whidbey Island Water Systems Association. “It seems a bit of a mess.”
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HotSpots H2O: “Day Zero” Looms for South African Province
South Africa’s Eastern Cape province is scrambling to avoid a “Day Zero” scenario in which taps run dry.
Water levels behind Impofu Dam — which forms the second-largest reservoir in Nelson Mandela Bay district — dropped too low for extraction on June 13, according to data released by the local government. The largest reservoir, formed by Churchill Dam, is projected to do the same on June 25. The shortages would leave 107 suburbs and townships without tap water.
In remarks last week, South Africa’s water minister Senzo Mchunu attributed the deficit to a severe multi-year drought which has afflicted the country since 2015—a weather event made more likely by global climate change. While the Eastern Cape has received above-average rainfall since last year, unsustainable water use, widespread pollution, and poor infrastructure prevented dams from recovering to their normal levels.
Many citizens blame municipal leaders for the crisis, saying that incompetence, dysfunction, and corruption have prevented necessary infrastructure repairs. At present, the district loses 30 percent of its water to leaky pipes.
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| | | Sewage spills such as this one across a busy intersection in Site C, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, have become semi-permanent features in some parts of the city. Photo © Steve Kretzmann / CCIJ
Child diarrhea cases surge as sewage runs on Cape Town streets
Officials blame the heat and people’s poor hygiene practices.
But CCIJ reports that the real culprit of spiking child diarrhea cases in Cape Town, South Africa, may be the city’s own sewage infrastructure.
In Cape Town, 20 children have died due to diarrhea this summer thus far, according to city and provincial government spokespersons.
In many informal settlements, there is no running water but sewage runs along the streets. There is hardly a street in the area that does not have broken and overflowing sewer covers. Almost every journey – all taken on foot – involves stepping through or across puddles or potholes contaminated with sewage.
So far this summer, city health clinics have reported 14 child deaths due to diarrhea, while six children have died from the same cause at provincial hospitals within the city.
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For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud.
Featured coverage from this week's episode of What's Up With Water looks at: Environmental groups are celebrating a victory in Albania, where the government has blocked the construction of a dam on one of Europe’s last wild rivers. The Vjosa River will be declared a national park, protecting it from development. In a report released last week, scientists called for world leaders to do a better job of managing phosphorus, a nutrient commonly used in farm fertilizer. Overuse of the nutrient has had far-reaching consequences for human health and the environment. In Chile, a major mining company says that by 2030, it will no longer use freshwater in its operations at a large copper mine. Anglo American intends to shift to desalinated water and recycled water for mining operations at Los Bronces by 2030. This week, Circle of Blue reports on the spillover effects of drought in the American West. |
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| | | Monitoring wells stand as silent sentinels on the grounds of a fire training site at Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Chemicals used at the site have contaminated nearby groundwater, rivers, and lakes. Photo © Brett Walton / Circle of Blue
Fear and Fury in Michigan Town Where Air Force Contaminated Water
In Oscoda, Michigan, the source of contamination was well documented.
The chemicals flowed underground, mostly unimpeded, from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base where PFAS compounds, sprayed for decades during training exercises to extinguish petroleum fires, soaked into the groundwater. The closer regulators looked, Circle of Blue reported in 2018, the more they found groundwater contaminated with PFAS, not just in Oscoda, but nationwide on military bases and industrial sites, and in towns that border them.
For years Wurtsmith, which closed in 1993, has been recognized as one of the most polluted places in Michigan. But groundwater contamination from PFAS and other toxic substances below the new facilities spreads largely unchecked.
The steady dose of chemicals into the area’s natural riches has upended lives in Oscoda. Some residents can’t drink the water or eat the fish. Many of them have banded together, forming several community groups to inform residents about the pollution — and demand action.
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