Credit: (Johnny McClung on Unsplash)Water supplies to six towns in Middlesex and Union counties have contained a toxic “forever chemical” at above a new state health standard since at least the beginning of August, Middlesex Water Co. said.
The utility issued a “notice of exceedance” to around 29,000 customers that the level of PFOA in water from the company’s Park Avenue Treatment Plant rose to 36.1 parts per trillion (ppt) in a sample collected Aug. 2, more than twice as high as the 14 ppt now enforced by the Department of Environmental Protection. The testing result was received Sept. 7, the company said last week.
Even though the company’s compliance with the new rule is based on a rolling average of four quarters, the latest reading means the PFOA level exceeds the state limit for the year regardless of what testing shows for the final quarter, the company said.
The affected towns are South Plainfield, Edison, Metuchen, Woodbridge, Clark and Rahway, all served by the Park Avenue Treatment Plant in South Plainfield. Customers who receive some or all of their water from that facility received the notice, the company said.
Customers were told to use alternative sources of water if they have a severely compromised immune system; if they are feeding infants; are pregnant, or are considering having children. Boiling water does not remove the chemical, the company said. People “may choose” to use bottled water for drinking and cooking to reduce exposure to PFOA, or installing a water filter that is certified to remove the chemical, the company said.
Company said no immediate health risk
Water company officials said there is no immediate health risk to drinking the water if the PFOA level is somewhat higher than the state’s maximum contaminant limit. And it said that water from the Park Avenue plant is typically blended with that from a surface water treatment plant, helping to dilute the presence of PFOA.
The notice followed a report last week that some 2,500 industrial sites in New Jersey may be sources of PFOA and other so-called forever chemicals that are so named because they don’t break down in the environment years after their manufacture or use has ended.
That report, based on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was published on the same day the EPA released a wide-ranging plan to set enforceable national standards for PFOA and PFOS, a related chemical. The agency also accelerated plans to clean up the whole PFAS family of chemicals, and said the agency will require toxicity data from manufacturers.
In New Jersey, officials have been enforcing new health limits on PFOA and two related chemicals in drinking water. Since they went into effect last year, DEP has issued violations to 22 water systems.
PFOA, PFOS and related chemicals are linked to some cancers, thyroid conditions, low birth weights, elevated cholesterol and other serious health conditions. The man-made chemicals have been widely used since the 1940s in consumer products including nonstick cookware and heat-resistant fabrics.
‘Not an emergency’
In the last few years, New Jersey has set some of the nation’s strictest health limits for three of the chemicals including PFOA, but advocates for tougher rules say regulated chemicals are being replaced by others that are unknown to health authorities, and may be just as toxic.
Bernadette Sohler, a spokeswoman for Middlesex Water, said the language in the notice to customers was required by DEP regulation if a water sample exceeds what she called the “extraordinarily stringent” new health level of 14 ppt.
“This is not an emergency, nor is it an immediate health concern,” Sohler said in a statement. “It’s important to understand that the established MCL is based on a one in a million chance of becoming ill by drinking water above the MCL (maximum contaminant limit) over a period of 70 years. Nonetheless, the language which is creating anxiety among the public was required by NJDEP.”
She said that an apparent delay in informing the public since the company received the test results Sept. 7 was the result of obtaining DEP approval for the language in the violation notice; doing hydraulic studies to determine who should receive the notice; receiving another DEP approval for the study method, and then printing and mailing.
“Despite the perception of a delay, the notice was sent within the regulatory notification period required by the NJDEP,” she said.
In a later statement, Middlesex Water said that the PFOA level in its water still complies with a non-enforceable EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt, as well as to the DEP’s previous “guidance level” of 40 ppt. “It’s important to understand that the water quality has not changed, the regulation has,” it said.
Because it was required to comply with DEP rules for notifying the public, the company said it was unable to accompany the notice with any further explanation of its reasons, and so is providing more details on its website.
Other water sources?
Barbara Catterall, who lives in a condo in Edison, said she was disturbed to find the company’s letter that did not offer another source of water or provide any advice on whether it’s safe to bathe in the tap water.
Catterall, 76, a retired state employee, was also alarmed to see the company’s statement that it will be 2023 before it opens a new treatment plant that will remove chemicals including PFOA.
“This is a long haul to drop this on us like we were a third world country,” she said.
She said the company should restore her water by diverting chemical-free water from an unaffected part of its system, or else provide bottled water. Otherwise, she said she will be buying bottled water but will only be able to move small quantities from her car into her apartment at any one time because of its weight. She said she doesn’t know whether her 86-year-old neighbor will be able to carry any bottled water.
She welcomed the state’s new maximum contaminant limit for PFOA but said the water company’s notice raised questions about the rule’s practicality.
“In New Jersey, it’s a new thing but as typical of New Jersey, they identify the problem but not realizing that it can’t be corrected,” she said.
Middlesex Water, an investor-owned utility, said it was not the source of the contamination and that it is suing the maker of the chemical, 3M Corp., in federal court and is seeking to recover the capital costs of PFAS remediation.
“As water utilities, we are not producers of PFAS; instead, we are now faced with finding ways to treat these traces of PFAS which find their way into groundwater supplies,” the company said.
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