Risks of ‘forever chemicals’ From the cover
Zooming in
The backstory
treatment plants are averaged together do not exceed the EPA’s new PFAS compound limits. Keller’s Public Works Director Alonzo Liñán said Fort Worth’s system is set up to be interconnected in case one source is compromised. Liñán said the city now tests for 10 unregulated contaminants and is working with the Trinity River Authority to identify PFAS producers. “No testing [for PFAS] has been done yet, so we cannot guess what might be over the incoming standards, if any,” Liñán said. Roanoke’s Director of Public Works Shawn Wilkinson said the city’s system results are the same as Eagle Mountain Lake, which didn’t show traces of the six PFAS compounds enforced by the new EPA regulations.
Fort Worth lists seven lakes and reservoirs, including Eagle Mountain Lake—the primary source for both Keller and Roanoke—as its water sources, according to Fort Worth’s 2023 Water Quality Report. The city also maintains five water treatment facilities. Two of those, the North Holly and South Holly Water Treatment Plants that treat source water at Lake Worth, had PFAS levels above the maximum levels, said Mary Gugliuzza, Fort Worth’s media and communications coordinator. The 2023 water quality report states the two plants had averages of three PFAS compounds higher than the maximum contaminant level under the EPA’s new regulations. However, Fort Worth’s overall numbers when the city’s five
PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry applications and consumer products since the 1940s. According to the EPA, PFAS can get into drinking water when products containing them leach into groundwater or are released in the air, ending up in rivers and lakes. Also known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS don’t break down easily, which can cause some forms to last in the environment for 1,000 years or more. “Around 50% of our rivers and streams contain measurable PFAS concentrations,” said Carsten Prasse, assistant professor in Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He added that food supplies can also contain PFAS. “Unfortunately, PFAS are also present in biosolids which are used as agricultural fertilizer, creating a pathway from contaminated soil to produce in the grocery store,” Prasse said. Products that may use PFAS Nonstick cookware Firefighting foams Stain-resistant fabrics and carpets
How drinking water moves from source to sink
1. Water collection from source
2. Treatment
3. Storage
4. Distribution
Grease-, water- and oil-resistant products Water-repellent clothing Cosmetics
Electroplated, or metal-coated, objects
7. Treated wastewater is released into the environment
6. Wastewater treatment
5. Wastewater collection
SOURCE: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: CITY OF FORT WORTH/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
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