• Water

Drinking Water Woes Continue In Michigan and California

• brain damage
• clean water
• drinking water
• Flint
• Forever Chemicals
• lead pipes
• PFAS

This week the vulnerabilities in the nation’s drinking water supplies once again came into full view.  In California, a study for the state’s water resources control board revealed that 60% of California’s public water supply wells contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals.  Meanwhile, citizens in Flint, Michigan filed a lawsuit on behalf of 2,600 children claiming that three big banks that were funding a pipeline project caused the city to rely on the Flint River as a temporary water source.

• Food

The FDA Reaches Agreement With Companies to Phase Out Food Packaging Containing PFAS

• #fightforeverchemicals
• #ForeverChemicals
• Environmental Working Group
• fast food
• FDA
• PFAS

Last week, in a major but voluntary step, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had secured and agreement with three manufacturers to phase out food packaging that uses the “Forever” chemical called 6:2 FTOH – one of the PFAS chemicals that has been linked to cancer. 

Why This Matters:  Many states are beginning to ban PFAS chemicals in food packaging, so this announcement by the FDA is a step in the right direction.

• Politics

House Dems Pack the “Minibus” Government Funding Bill With Environmental Fixes

• Appropriations
• clean air
• clean water
• conservation
• environment
• House of Representatives
• minibus
• PFAS
• rollback

It’s the time of year that Congress passes funding bills for agencies and this year’s mashup of bills — known as a “minibus” because it only funds some parts of the government — is chock full of environmental provisions intended to reverse Trump rollbacks, take actions the Administration has blocked, and to prevent them from taking others.

Why This Matters:  There are more than 100 environmental amendments that the House will debate and many will pass only on party lines.

• Politics

Lawmakers Attach Environmental Provisions to “Must-Pass” DoD Bill

• #ForeverChemicals
• Department of Defense
• DOD
• drilling
• Florida
• leasing
• offshore oil and gas
• PFAS
• PFOA

The annual bill authorizing all activities and purchases by the Defense Department is a popular “vehicle” to advance environmental provisions on banning and cleaning up “PFAS” and “PFOA” toxic “forever chemicals” that have contaminated water all across the country, particularly on military bases.

Why This Matters:  These issues are not new, nor is using this DoD legislation to advance important DoD-related environmental objectives.

• Water

EPA Rule Unjustly Trumps State Clean Water Act Authority To Protect Rivers and Drinking Water

• clean water
• Clean Water Act
• drinking water
• Environmental Justice
• fossil fuel companies
• PFAS
• pipelines
• toxic chemicals

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday issued another rule dealing a blow to 40 years of settled law on the authority of states and tribes under the Clean Water Act to block fossil fuel projects such as natural gas pipelines and coal terminals that could pollute state waterways.

Why This Matters:  The EPA is turning the Clean Water Act on its head and undercutting states and tribes that are protecting the clean water and the health of their citizens.

• Water

DoD Admits It Will Take Decades To Clean PFAS From Water Supplies

• #ForeverChemicals
• Department of Defense
• drinking water
• Environmental Working Group
• installations
• PFAS
• safe drinking water

Last week the Defense Department (DoD) reported that 250 more installations had tested positive for PFAS contamination, and now they admit that it will take 30 years at least to test each site for PFAS, identify how the chemical has spread and then complete the cleanup. 

Why This Matters:  Many states are imposing limits well below the EPA’s 70 parts per trillion (ppt) guidance, but the DoD will only clean up drinking water that is above the EPA recommended level.