January 2021

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Defense must adopt a more constructive attitude toward cleaning up toxic “forever chemical” pollution, say members of a bipartisan caucus in Congress that’s pushing the new administration to move swiftly on regulations that would curb exposure to PFAS chemicals in the environment.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, called for a “culture change” among leadership at the Pentagon when dealing with fluorochemical pollution cleanup during a call with reporters on Jan. 29 to announce a relaunching of the Congressional PFAS Task Force for the new legislative session. Read more…

By the end of September, a treatment system the Chemours chemical company had just installed was supposed to stop 99 percent of residual contamination of “forever chemicals” from escaping an old outfall and flowing into the Cape Fear River.

Only the system did not work properly and toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS continued to flow into the river at levels exceeding the threshold. Read more…

“CHELMSFORD – Water tested at 54 Richardson Road, a proposed site for a temporary fire station, contains high levels of PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to a study conducted by the town.

The Sun covered the Select Board meeting in November when members first discussed these elevated PFAS levels, which have been linked to effects including low infant birth rates, immune system and hormonal effects and certain cancers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Read more…

Every day at work for 15 years, Sean Mitchell, a captain in the Nantucket Fire Department, has put on the bulky suit that protects him from the heat and flames he faces on the job. But last year, he and his team came across unsettling research: Toxic chemicals on the very equipment meant to protect their lives could instead be making them gravely ill.

This week, Captain Mitchell and other members of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the nation’s largest firefighters’ union, are demanding that union officials take action. Read more..

Drinking water for millions of people in China has unsafe levels of PFAS toxics, according to a study released by Tsinghua University earlier this month.

The researchers analyzed 526 drinking water samples across 66 Chinese cities for perfluoro- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are durable, man-made chemicals found in products such as textiles, firefighting foam, and pesticides. The study concluded that just under 100 million people in the examined cities have PFAS concentrations in their drinking water above safe levels. Read more…

DOVER, Del. — The Dupont Co. and its spinoff business Chemours have agreed to resolve legal disputes over environmental liabilities for pollution related to man-made chemicals associated with an increased risk of cancer and other health problems.

The binding memorandum of understanding announced Friday comes just over a month after Delaware’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that DuPont massively downplayed the cost of environmental liabilities imposed on Chemours when DuPont spun off its former performance chemicals unit in 2015. Read more…

In April of 2019, a team of scientific researchers and documentarians arrived at Mount Everest’s southern basecamp in Nepal to measure the impacts of climate change and human activity on the world’s tallest mountain. The pollution team, led by University of Maine Assistant Professor Kimberley Miner, lugged heavy scientific equipment up the most popular ascent route. At each stop, Miner’s team took samples of snow, the same snow climbers were boiling and drinking, the same snow that melted each summer and provided water for people living in the valleys below. Read more…

DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Chemours Co. agreed to a $4 billion settlement of a dispute over environmental liabilities shifted to Chemours after it was spun off in 2015.

The accord, which also includes DuPont’s former seed business Corteva Inc., covers payments for liabilities tied to a class of chemicals known as PFAS, the companies said in a statement on Friday. DuPont and Corteva will split “certain qualified expenses” 50-50 with Chemours, the companies said. They specified expenses incurred over a term of 20 years or $4 billion at most. Read more…

On January 19, 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) introduced several new action items to further complement its progress under the 2019 Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (“PFAS”) Action Plan. These action items, introduced just one day prior to President Biden’s inauguration, put EPA one step closer to formal regulation of these substances, and provides PFAS manufacturers, producers, users, and discharges a blueprint of the compliance requirements that will dictate their operations within the coming years. Read more…