GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION NEAR SHAW AIR FORCE BASE RAISES CONCERN

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Shaw Air Force Base has taken steps to address environmental concerns arising from groundwater contamination. The contamination, caused by firefighting foam used in previous training exercises, has impacted neighboring communities, prompting the base to monitor water sources since 2018.

The pollution stems from historical operations at the base, and its effects have led to the delivery of bottled water to affected neighborhoods. Plans are now underway to potentially install new water systems to mitigate the issue. In March, the EPA proposed a standard (a maximum contaminant level), but it is not finalized or established nationally.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY SEEKS FEEDBACK ON NEW BYLAW TO PROTECT DRINKING WATER

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Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, is looking for feedback as it drafts a new bylaw for protecting drinking water. The County is developing a new backflow prevention bylaw to help protect drinking water in industrial, commercial, institutional, and multi-residential buildings from cross-connection contamination. The proposed backflow prevention bylaw will require industrial, commercial, institutional (ICIs), and multi-residential buildings located in Northumberland County to review connections within their plumbing systems to ensure proper backflow prevention devices are installed to protect drinking water from potential contamination.  The draft bylaw will be presented for public review and feedback at two upcoming open house sessions on Tuesday, August 16. The open house sessions are from 1 to 4 p.m. and from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the county building, located at 600 William St. in Cobourg.

PROVINCE RELEASES RISK RANKING OF POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED OLD MINES

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The Canadian Province of Nova Scotia has released its risk ranking of potentially contaminated historical mine sites. The list includes 69 sites across the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia that were once home to a range of mining operations dating back to the 1800s. Most of the top sites are old gold mines, many of the lower-ranking ones were copper, coal and limestone mines. Materials containing chemicals such as mercury and arsenic being dumped on land and in waterways.

The Canadian Province of Nova Scotia created the list by analyzing each site for human health risks, the size of the site, chemical and physical properties and ecology. Human health risks were given more weight than the other categories. The list does not include all contaminated former mines. Nova Scotia Lands is only responsible for remediating sites on Crown land, so private properties contaminated from old mines are not on the list.

THREE MICHIGAN BEACHES CLOSED DUE TO BACTERIA LEVELS, INCLUDING ONE IN MACOMB COUNTY

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Thursday, June 30, three Michigan beaches closed due to high bacteria levels and two other beaches are under advisory due to a contamination issue. The beaches closed include St. Clair Shores' Memorial Park Beach on Lake St. Clair in Macomb County, Pinconning Park in Saginaw Bay, Clinch Park in Grand Traverse Bay. The two beaches under contamination advisory include Gladwin City Park in Cedar River and Taylor's Beach at Cook Lake in Livingston County.

BENNET, HICKENLOOPER URGE U.S. AIR FORCE TO ADDRESS 'FOREVER CHEMICALS' IN EL PASO COUNTY

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On June 24th, the U.S Air Force was urged by two Colorado senators to address PFAS in El Paso County water. In a letter, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper said is in the Widefield aquifer, which provides drinking water to thousands of residents and supplies surface water to area ponds, some of which Coloradans use for recreational fishing. They are asking the Air Force to expand on a pilot programs that remove PFAS from water. They also requested the Biden administration to partner with Colorado in taking additional steps to address PFAS from military activities.

PFAS in the Widefield aquifer south of Peterson Air Force Base affected some 80,000 people in the Security-Widefield-Fountain area. $50 million in funding for Air Force environmental restoration and remediation has been spent primarily on protecting drinking water for the affected communities since the discovery back in 2016. In Colorado, the Fountain-Widefield-Security area is one of the state’s biggest PFAS sites due to the long-term use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam at Peterson Air Force (now Space Force) Base beginning in the 1970s. Water and soil testing in 2016 by the Air Force revealed PFAS levels of 240,000 parts per trillion in soil samples and more than 88,000 parts per trillion in groundwater at seven locations on the base. The base is now a designated EPA Superfund site.

ENVIRONMENTAL, PUBLIC HEALTH GROUPS TO SENATE: ACT ON TOXIC PFAS IN DRINKING WATER

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A letter was delivered on June 22nd, to the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee from 82 organizations, including Environment America and U.S. PIRG, regarding comprehensive federal legislation to protect Americans’ drinking water from contamination by the class of chemicals known as PFAS. The 82 organizations from 30 different states are calling for the EPW committee to designate PFAS as a hazardous substance. This would prohibit the use of PFAS in firefighting foam and direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue drinking water standards and stop the dumping of PFAS into our nation’s waterways. It is estimated that from Alabama to Alaska, more than 200 million Americans’ drinking water may be contaminated with PFAS.

EPA PLEDGES $23 MILLION TOWARD CLEANUP AT STRATFORD’S RAYMARK SUPERFUND SITE

Brian A. Pounds / Brian A. Pounds

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pledged roughly $30 million on June 2nd toward environmental remediation efforts at former industrial sites in Connecticut. These sites will include the ongoing clean-up of asbestos, lead, and other toxic contaminants at dumping grounds once used by local auto-parts manufacturer Raymark Industries. This federal investment is part of an overall plan to spend $5.4 billion over the next 7 years cleaning up brownsfields and Superfund sites as part of Congress’ Bi-partisan Infrastructure Bill.

$23 million, the largest amount of money given by the EPA, was dedicated to the 34-acre site of the former Raymark plant in Stratford, referred to as “one of the most complex” remediation projects under the agency’s Superfund program. The Army Corps of Engineers, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the EPA have helped manage the cleanup efforts for three decades after the plant was closed in 1989.

PFAS MANUFACTURERES SUED

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Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against multiple PFAS manufacturers, claiming that they deceptively marketed and sold dangerous chemicals. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in South Carolina, where it will be joined with a host of other lawsuits before a single federal judge. 

The lawsuit alleges that the manufacturers knowingly deceived buyers about the risks of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. “These toxic and persistent ‘forever chemicals’ are contaminating countless water supplies and requiring massive efforts and expenditures of funds to investigate, treat, and remediate the contamination of the Commonwealth’s natural resources,” according to the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit requests an unspecified amount of money to clean up, restore, and treat the PFAS contamination as well as reimburse the state for damages. Furthermore, the lawsuit seeks to hold these manufacturers responsible for remediating and monitoring water supplies, rivers, and soil in the state.

LEAD CONTAMINATION AT SHINGLE MOUNTAIN SITE NEAR DALLAS, TEXAS

Lynda M. Gonzalez / www.DallasNews.com

On May 11th, a $2 million cleanup at the former Shingle Mountain site was approved to address lead contamination. In 2021, the city of Dallas, Texas, removed years of construction debris from the Floral Farms neighborhood. Concerned about the levels of contamination, local residents called for an environmental assessment and found lead in the soil. The lead in the soil was three times higher than the minimum to clean up the site.

An additional assessment of the property has been started by the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS). Once complete, officials plan to enter the property site into a regulatory cleanup program.

$230 MILLION CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT REACHED FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY PLAINS ALL AMERICAN PIPELINE’S 2015 SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS FILES

Plains All American Pipeline, who spilled an estimated 15,000 barrels of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean in 2015, has agreed to pay $230 million to the fishing industry and shoreline residents whose properties endured damages due to the oil spill. Plains All American operated a transportation of crude oil pipeline stretching 130 miles between the Santa Barbara coast and inland refinery markets in California. In 2018, Plains All American was found criminally liable for the oil spill due to failed maintenance, extensive pipeline corrosion, and a corroded pipeline. The oil spill polluted several costal properties and harmed the fishing industry. Judge Gutierrez must give a final approval on the matter. Once the approval is obtained, class members will be notified and a court-approved plan of distribution will be created with $184 million distributed among the Fisher class and $46 million distributed among the Property class.

MICHIGAN PFAS ACTION RESPONSE TEAM

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The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team has assembled a webpage to organize sites under investigation for PFAS. They are divided into two different categories: PFAS Sites and Areas of Interest. PFAS sites are defined as a property where EGLE has a groundwater monitoring well sample result that exceeds one or more of Michigan's seven PFAS groundwater cleanup criteria and has determined the property is the location of the source of PFAS contamination. Areas of Interest are investigated due to the potential of PFAS contamination for which a source has not been determined. 

This website features several datasets as part of Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART)'s efforts such as PFAS Sites, PFAS Surface Water Sampling, and Statewide Testing Initiative of Public Water Supplies Hexbins and Results Table.

STATE OF OREGON FINDS THAT HERMISTON FRENCH FRY PLANT VIOLATED ITS PERMIT, SPREADING EXCESS NITRATES INTO THE AREA’S GROUNDWATER

Monica Samayoa / www.KLCC.org

A "pre-enforcement notice" has been issued by Oregon Environmental regulators to the Lamb Weston potato processing plant in Hermiston, Oregon.  The "pre-enforcement notice" was issued after finding the company overapplied excess wastewater to nearby farmlands. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found Lamb Weston had violated its water pollution permit 75 times from 2016 to 2020, totaling nearly 189 tons of excess nitrates into the area's groundwater supply. Lamb Weston could face a formal enforcement action.

WASTE DUMPED IN A SOUTH BEND NEIGHBORHOOD TO BE TREATED

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Bendix and other companies dumped toxic waste for decades in a lot adjacent to South Bend, Indiana. Honeywell International (whose predecessor is Bendix Corp) and the city of South Bend, Indiana, will pay to have areas of the park excavated. These excavation will be conducted as part of a federal environmental program that designates Honeywell International and the city of South Bend, Indiana, as “potentially responsible parties.”

ACTING AG ANNOUNCES GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION LAWSUIT IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY

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Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette announced on April 4th that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has filed a suit against a chemical company based in Connecticut. Allegedly, this chemical company is responsible for damaging natural resources in New Jersey by contaminating groundwater at the site of the former Hexcel manufacturing plant.

The site has already undergone remediation of the contamination but the lawsuit is seeking compensation for the damaged natural resources, specifically the lost value in their contaminated water supply. The chemicals came from the leaking storage tanks and operations at the Hexcel plant. The lawsuit is being handled by the Environmental Enforcement and Environmental Justice (EEEJ) Section within the Division of Law’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group.

MAP REVEALS THE PRESENSE OF LEAD IN CHICAGO BACKYARDS

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Lead was found to be present in the soils of the Chicago, Illinois, environment. Communities of Chicago now have access to a citywide map that will set forth an estimated amount of lead contamination in soils.

According to the study, 20% of the city's soils are higher than 400 parts per million (ppm). The average amount of lead in the soil was 220 ppmwhich is approximately 11 times higher than the natural level of 20 ppm. Some south-side neighborhoods had lead levels in the soil of more than 1,000 ppm. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency follows the federal EPA rate of 400 ppm, though other states set forth different levels, such as the California EPA has a lower level of 80 ppm

JUDGE APPROVES $34M SETTLEMENT IN PFOA LAWSUIT

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On Monday, April 18th, a federal judge ordered Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation to pay $34 million for a class-action lawsuit filed against the company. The lawsuit was filed over the presence of PFAS chemicals in the soil and groundwater of a southern community in Bennington, Vermont. The company will pay $26.2 million to compensate Bennington, Vermont, property owners for alleged damages. They will also pay $6 million to monitor the health of those exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

Two former ChemFab Corporation factories that had be purchased by Saint-Gobain were determined to be responsible for distributing PFOA chemicals through exhaust emissions. The lawsuit was filed in May of 2016. Saint-Gobain has since paid over $40 million to comply with state consent orders to extend municipal water lines to homes with wells.

The Vermont Legislature has passed a bill stating in Vermont, people exposed to chemicals can sue the polluter for medical monitoring. This bill is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott, although he had vetoed two other previous medical monitoring bills. Claims against Saint-Gobain can still be filed through August 22, 2022.

CENTRAL CITY, IOWA, HAS WATER WELLS WITH PFAS

The Gazette

Central City, Iowa, stated they will only use one of their two water wells because one of their wells tested for PFAS. In February, the city well tested at 62 parts per trillion for the two PFAS compounds. A test of the city's drinking water also showed testing at 61-parts-per-trillion concentration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current health advisory for PFAS is 70 parts per trillion.

The well that tested for PFAS has been shut down and the City pulls its drinking water from the other well. City officials believe they have enough water to meet the city's demands during peak usage season but are considering limiting the use of water throughout the year to ensure the well will be able to supply the needed demand of water. New policies have been set into place for Central city that require public water supplies to be tested every three months to monitor the water.

LONG-RUNNING LOVE CANAL SUITS SCHEDULED FOR HEARING IN MAY

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A long-pending contamination lawsuit in Niagara Falls’ Love Canal neighborhood has set a court date for May of 2022. In the 1970's, the Love Canal was the location of a toxic landfill that caused health and property damage. In the early 1980s it became one of the first “Superfund” sites under CERCLA. In 2011, a sewer repair crew discovered waste in the area claiming that a containment structure built in the 1980s to store waste was leaking.

On Saturday, March 19th, a federal appeals court in New York announced they will hear arguments on whether 19 pending lawsuits involving 600 people should be heard in state or federal court. Currently, the lawsuit is set to be heard in the same location it was filed in, state court. The defendant believes that the lawsuit should be heard in federal court because the containment structure for the toxic waste was built with federal superfunds. The case is scheduled to come before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on May 5 in Manhattan.

ARMY CLAIMS PROCESSORS QUICKLY AID SOLDIERS, FAMILIES AFFECTED BY HAWAII WATER CONTAMINATION

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Fort Knox, the United States Army installation in Kentucky, is responsible for helping Army soldiers around the world recover from losses and property damages. Recently, they have mobilized teams to the island state of Hawaii while processing claims for thousands of displaced military families. An accidental jet fuel leak contaminated the drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickman in November of 2021. 7,000 Soldiers and family members were affected by the contamination.

SEWAGE SPILL CLOSES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEACHES

KTLA 5 News / Associated Press

On December 31st, 2021, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange County beaches were closed due to a sewage spill of as many as 7 million gallons of untreated wastewater. A series of late December storms brought heavy rainfall to the southern California area causing a section of the Los Angeles County-run sewage system to collapse. The collapse sent untreated wastewater to storm drains that lead to sea.

The collapse was reported on Friday, December 31st, in the city of Carson. Emergency contractors set up bypass pumps immediately, but sewage continued to make its way into the ocean according to the districts.

The sewage spill prompted closures from Huntington Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes. This also included 7 miles of beach and bayfront areas in long beach. Reopening these beaches will require water testing that shows bacteria levels that are not hazardous.