State environmental officials are working to adopt groundwater and surface water standards for toxic chemicals known as PFAS.
But the rule making process is taking longer than expected.
WUNC host Will Michaels spoke to WUNC environmental reporter Celeste Gracia about where we are in this process and what's next.
This conversation has been lightly edited and expanded to provide additional context and details.
Can you remind us what are PFAS?
PFAS are man-made chemicals found in several North Carolina waterways. PFAS is also found in food packaging, clothing, non-stick cookware, and firefighting foam.
There are thousands of different kinds of PFAS, so the research is still ongoing to fully understand the impacts of these toxic chemicals.
But so far, exposure to these chemicals has been linked to several health effects, including cancer, increased cholesterol levels and decreased fertility. Exposure can happen in many ways, like drinking contaminated water.
PFAS are found in all kinds of waters — including drinking water, surface water and groundwater. What’s the difference between all of these?
This is a really important distinction to make.
Drinking water is the water that we drink. Surface water is lakes, rivers or streams. Groundwater is water that’s below the ground in aquifers.
Drinking water is regulated by federal law, whereas surface water and groundwater are regulated by the state.
In April, the federal Environmental Protection Agency passed drinking water standards for 6 kinds of PFAS. Over 3.6 million North Carolinians are estimated to have PFAS in their drinking water above these standards.
Now, we have to remember that surface water and groundwater eventually become drinking water. For example, Wake County gets its drinking water from Falls Lake or Lake Wheeler, which is surface water.
Because there are now federal drinking water standards, environmental regulators and activists argue that having standards for surface water and groundwater helps achieve those drinking water standards.
Where are we in adopting state regulations for surface water and groundwater?
Last Wednesday, the state Water Quality Committee met. At this meeting, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) presented information about proposed surface water standards for 8 kinds of PFAS.
Chris Ventaloro with the Division of Water Resources says DEQ is proposing surface water standards for these eight PFAS because it’s strongly supported by the science.
"Standards were derived for these 8 specific PFAS compounds because health effects for all of these compounds are published in peer-reviewed scientific studies and have been evaluated by a federal agency and other scientific experts," Ventaloro said.
Committee members had a lot of questions, and discussion on this topic lasted for over two hours. But ultimately the committee took no action.
What’s next for surface water regulations?
DEQ will return to the next Water Quality Committee meeting in September with more information about these proposed standards for surface water.
What about groundwater regulations?
The Groundwater and Waste Management Committee also met last Wednesday. DEQ is also proposing groundwater regulations for the same 8 PFAS.
DEQ was asking the committee to vote to move forward with the regulations. The next step in the rulemaking process would be to take these proposed standards to the Environmental Management Commission.
What did the committee decide?
The committee told DEQ to come back in September with a revised regulatory impact analysis focused on just three PFAS — not the eight that DEQ proposed.
Why did the committee choose to move forward in this way?
It’s complicated.
The state already has some lab-based groundwater standards for PFAS in place. But those standards were meant to be interim regulations while the science caught up.
Now, DEQ says there is enough science to update those standards using health-based guidance, which looks at how contamination impacts a person’s health over time.
The committee wants to prioritize those health-based standards for only three PFAS that are commonly found in North Carolina waters. These 3 PFAS are PFOA, PFOS and GenX.
How is DEQ responding?
DEQ says yes, technically these 3 PFAS are common in the state, but those other 5 are also present.
DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser is strongly criticizing both these committees, which fall under the Environmental Management Commission (EMC).
"What North Carolinians need to know is that the EMC continues to delay action that would protect their health and protect their pocketbooks. They would rather protect polluters," Biser said. "Absent standards, residents are going to be on the hook for the full cost of compliance with federal drinking water standards, the full cost of keeping PFAS out of their drinking water."
Biser says her agency will continue to do everything in their power to protect North Carolinians from the effects of PFAS pollution.
"That means pursuing cleanups. That means taking whatever steps we can put in for monitoring requirements," Biser said. "We'll do whatever we can within our current authority."
What’s been the response from the public?
Well, clean water advocates are disappointed and frustrated. Dana Sargent is the executive director of the Cape Fear River Watch. She watched these meetings last week and described it as watching a circus.
"A bunch of folks asking questions that really weren’t relevant, unless it was just a joke and part of this whole prank of stalling. It was almost comical if it wasn’t so devastating," Sargent said.
Advocates say the proposed surface water and groundwater regulations from DEQ are not stringent enough, and they want the agency to have stronger standards. DEQ says they’re letting the science guide their proposals.
Also, the only way to create these standards in North Carolina is through the EMC. DEQ does not have power to adopt these regulations.
And the commission will meet again in September?
That’s right. We’ll have to see what happens then.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser.
