The Washington Department of Health plans to test several hundred water systems in the state for trace contamination of more than a dozen chemicals found in some firefighting foams.
Department officials will use the test results to help assess the scope of the problem as they work with the Washington State Board of Health to develop possible state standards for some of the chemicals.
These chemicals are now undergoing a federal toxicology review that has drawn scrutiny from the White House, where an unidentified aide — in a January email released under the federal Freedom of Information Act — warned of a “potential public relations nightmare.” The federal review was conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public-health agency, and recommends “minimal risk levels” for four PFAS chemicals in drinking water.
So far 18 operators of water systems have turned down the state request to conduct tests, according to Liz Coleman, of the state Department of Health.
The email, obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists and first reported by Politico, indicates that the unpublished study recommends a level as low as 12 parts per trillion for at least one PFAS chemical.
The correspondence indicates the draft report also drew the attention of the Defense Department, which has found more than 120 sites where firefighting foam used around military airstrips appears to have contaminated sources of drinking water, including at JBLM.
The Defense Department has paid for alternate sources of water and other assistance when the contamination levels reach or exceed the EPA 70 parts per trillion guidelines.
So a much-lower threshold could increase the number of water systems and private wells that would need assistance from the military.
State health officials say the process to develop a Washington PFAS plan will extend until 2019.
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