NJ drinking water to get cleaner
with PFAs rules

By: Scott Fallen
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey formally adopted some of the most stringent standards in the nation for two chemicals found in drinking water across the state that have been linked to cancer and other ailments, officials said Monday. [06/01/2020]
..... The move will require all operators of public water systems to begin testing for the chemicals PFOA and PFOS by April 1, 2021.
..... If water exceeds the new standards - 14 parts per trillion for PFOS - utility operators would have to install treatment systems or take wells offline.
.... The two chemicals belong to a larger class of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, that were used widely for decades in many commercial and industrial processes. PFOA has been a key ingredient for nonstick cookware, and PFOS was sued in metal plating.
..... They are known as "forever chemicals" because they are very difficult to break down.
..... Nearly one in five New Jersey residents have received tap water that contains at least trace amounts of one of these chemicals, including those in Garfield, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Wallington and Hawthorne, some of which have already installed treatment systems.
.... The move comes after Governor Phil Murphy's administration last year [2019] ordered five companies responsible for widespread pollution of drinking water systems with PFAS to spend millions of dollars to assess the extent of contamination and eventually clean up the pollution. the directive by the DEP targets some of the biggest chemical manufacturers in the nation: 3M, DuPont, DowDuPont, Chemours and Solvay.

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