Leading Water News Stories for April 2024
Without question, the month’s leading water story was the EPA’s announcement of the establishment of enforceable for PFAS.
“A huge victory for public health”
The EPA has published its National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for six PFAS chemicals. The ruling includes Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL), the legally enforceable limits, and MCL Goals for six PFAS chemicals.
The rule is expected to take effect in 2027 and requires public water systems to monitor and notify the public of the levels of these PFAS in water supplies. The rule also allows public water systems five years to reduce PFAS exposure if they exceed these MCLs and implement solutions by 2029.
This is a significant achievement.
Full text of the EPA announcement is on the Pure Water Gazette website.
New Mexico’s rivers, which include the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan and Pecos, are America’s most threatened waterways, according to a new report. This is largely due to a 2023 US supreme court decision that left more than 90% of the state’s surface waters without federal protections from industrial pollution, according to state officials.
Consumer Reports has found unhealthy levels of pesticides in about 20% of US produce and The Guardian detailed the six fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide risk – blueberries, bell peppers, potatoes, watermelons, green beans, and kale and mustard greens.
Ocean waves crashing on the world’s shores emit more PFAS into the air than the world’s industrial polluters, new research has found, raising concerns about environmental contamination and human exposure along coastlines.
The EPA has been asked to address a “long-ignored health crisis” in Iowa drinking water stemming from dangerously high nitrate levels. According to a legal petition filed by environmental and health advocacy groups last week, “For decades, Northeast Iowa residents have been exposed to dangerous levels of nitrate contaminated water. As the state reckons with high cancer levels and ongoing pollution regulation rollbacks, federal action is needed to safeguard the right to clean water. EPA must exercise emergency authority to hold polluters accountable and deliver safe drinking water in Iowa.”
The mayor of Paris expressed confidence that water quality in the river Seine will allow Olympic swimming.
In Mexico, angry subsistence farmers are staging a revolt against the thirsty avocado orchards of corporate farmers.
Just 56 companies are responsible for more than 50% of the world’s plastic pollution, according to a study published in Science Advances. The top five polluters were the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, accounting for 24% of the total branded count.
Because of extreme heat and severe drought, several major cities in Mexico are facing a shortage in their water supply.
The U.S. government, in what an attorney says is a “monumental admission,” said last year that it caused injury to thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when jet fuel from its storage facility leaked into the drinking water system.
Perrier has been ordered to destroy two million bottles of water after bacteria “of faecal origin” was discovered in one of its wells in Gard, in southern France.
