As WA tackles PFAS pollution, some worry about ‘piecemeal’ approach

By Manuel Villa and Isabella Breda | Seattle Times | March 26, 2024

Read the full article by Manuel Villa and Isabella Breda (Seattle Times)

“State-mandated testing revealed a San Juan Island community was drinking toxic water. But who is responsible for paying for a new water source?

The question is one public officials are grappling with as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in drinking water sources and watersheds across the state.

In Washington, there are about 2,400 public water systems that are required to test for PFAS. Roughly half of them have done those tests, with about 250 having detected the chemicals in the water, but that doesn’t count thousands of households who drink from private wells, which are not subject to state testing requirements.

Some communities in the shadow of military bases may get help from the Pentagon if water contamination is linked to military activities. Meanwhile, public water systems must seek state or federal grant funding or shoulder the expensive burden themselves. In Lakewood, for example, the cost of a massive filtration system exceeded $5 million."

This content provided by the PFAS Project.