Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Michigan
PFAS experts gather to address growing chemical crisis — Great Lakes Now
The ongoing “forever chemicals” crisis took center stage during EGLE’s fourth annual Great Lakes PFAS Summit.
Residential drinking wells near defunct Ware Road dump must be tested for PFAS — The Daily News
The Michigan PFAS Response Action Team has designated the former Lowell City Landfill on Ware Road in Boston Township as an “area of interest” for groundwater contaminated by PFAS after elevated levels of the pollutants were detected during routine sampling in July 2023.
‘Forever chemicals’ found in freshwater fish, yet most states don’t warn residents — Bridge Michigan
Bill Eisenman has always fished. Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north of Detroit. But in recent years, he has been wary about a group of chemicals known as PFAS which don’t break down quickly in the environment and accumulate in soil, water, fish, and our bodies.
Grayling water main seeks to replace PFAS-contaminated wells — Interlochen Public Radio
Grayling Charter Township is hoping to construct a line that would bring municipal water to neighborhoods with PFAS-contaminated wells.
Ohio
Have you heard of forever chemicals? It started with the work of this Cincinnati attorney — Ideastream
Scientists don’t fully understand all the health effects of PFAS, but what they do know is in large part due to the work of Cincinnati lawyer Robert Bilott, whose more than 20-year legal battle with one of the world’s largest chemical manufacturers began with a phone call.
Wisconsin
The state budget set aside $125M to address PFAS. Months later, communities are still waiting for relief.
— Wisconsin Public Radio
Republican lawmakers voted to create a $125 million trust fund to address PFAS contamination as part of the current two-year budget, which Evers signed. But nearly six months have passed and the money has yet to be spent. With time running out on this legislative session, it’s unclear whether it will be.
GOP senators knock Evers, DNR for halting work on PFAS groundwater standards — WisPolitics
Excessive costs force DNR to halt work on PFAS groundwater standards for industrial facilities.
GOP lawmakers press Evers’ appointees to DNR board on wolf management, PFAS cleanup — Wausau Pilot & Review
Republicans on the Wisconsin Senate’s sporting heritage committee pressed Gov. Evers’ new appointees to the Natural Resources Board on a wide range of issues including their stance on wolf management and who should pay to clean up PFAS pollution.
PFAS clean-up liability delays vote on airport deal between Dane County, National Guard — Wisconsin State Journal
The Dane County Board, county lawyers and the National Guard are at odds over a contract some supervisors and environmentalist groups fear will let the military get out of legal responsibility for its role in PFAS contamination of drinking water in the area. The National Guard has said an airport firefighting contract only shields it from responsibility for future PFAS contamination.
PFAS lawsuits involve complex science and law, but settlements can be worth millions — Wisconsin Public Radio
PFAS lawsuits are common in Wisconsin and across the country. Here’s what residents and municipalities will have to show to win them.
National
PFAS Chemicals Awareness Lacking Among U.S. Adults — HealthDay
Most Americans are in the dark about PFAS, their presence in products, and the potential health risks. Three-quarters of U.S. adults do not know what forever chemicals are, according to a recent study.
U.S. Water Utilities Deploy PFAS Treatment Technologies to Safeguard Drinking Water — Waste 360
As U.S. and European lawmakers tighten restrictions on toxic PFAS contaminants in water, utilities and businesses are working to safeguard drinking water supplies for communities. Often referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals whose components break down slowly over time.
Pentagon slow to remedy forever chemicals in water around hundreds of military bases — USA Today
Oscoda, Michigan, has the distinction as the first community where “forever chemicals” were found seeping from a military installation into the surrounding community. Beginning in 2010, state officials and later residents who lived near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base were horrified to learn that the chemicals, collectively called PFAS, had leached into their rivers, lakes, and drinking water.
Lawmakers urge legal action over firefighter PFAS exposure — WWLP
Nearly half of the Massachusetts’s Legislature signed onto a letter to Attorney General Andrea Campbell this week, imploring the state to join Worcester firefighters diagnosed with cancer in their lawsuit against companies that make firefighting gear alleged to include toxic PFAS chemicals.
Who Pays to Get Forever Chemicals Out of Drinking Water? It Could Be You — The Wall Street Journal
Officials say settlements with 3M and DuPont won’t cover all of the costs of building new filtration systems. Now they are appearing in homeowners’ soaring utility bills. Water systems are spending millions of dollars to filter out PFAS.
‘Forever chemicals’ were everywhere in 2023. Expect more litigation in 2024 — Reuters
Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting U.S. drinking water with toxic PFAS chemicals led to over $11 billion in settlements in 2023, with experts predicting that new federal regulations and a growing awareness of the breadth of PFAS contamination in the U.S. will spur more litigation and settlements in the year ahead.
What Loons Can Tell Us About PFAS — National Wildlife Federation
A new loon study could provide a better understanding of what PFAS mean for wildlife and humans.
Diane Cotter went on a mission to discover why so many firefighters die of cancer. What she found not only shocked her but has led to a movement to change firefighter gear to save them.
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
PFAS News Roundup: How ‘forever chemicals’ affect the human body
