By Cameron McWhirter and Jon Kamp
Officials in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York are expanding
their efforts to find out how much of a potentially toxic chemical
ended up in drinking water, from private wells to public water
systems.
Factories for decades used the chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid
or PFOA, as a plastic coating and to make consumer products such as
Teflon nonstick pans, waterproof jackets and pizza boxes.
Former large manufacturers or users of PFOA, including 3M Co.
and DuPont Co., agreed in 2006 to phase out PFOA production and use
by December 2015.
Public concern over PFOA has spread through upstate New York and
New England since August 2014, when a resident of Hoosick Falls,
N.Y., near the Vermont border, tested his drinking water and found
high levels of the acid. The man was concerned because his father,
a former employee of the town's plastics plant that used PFOA, died
of cancer.
Earlier this month, roughly 200 people crowded into a high
school auditorium in Litchfield, N.H., to hear from New Hampshire
environmental officials. Attendees voiced concerns about PFOA's
possible effects on children, pets and garden produce.
Shawn Dalton, a retired 64-year-old, told the group that the
drinking water from his home well tested positive for PFOA in
March. "To me, the biggest problem is that nobody knows anything,
and in a way we're going to be the guinea pigs," he said.
Nina Taliaferro said samples of water from her private well
showed PFOA contamination at 100 parts per trillion, the level at
which state officials start to consider it unsafe. The 32-year-old
said she is concerned about possible chemical exposure by her 8
1/2-month-old daughter.
A corner of the southern New Hampshire town of about 8,300
people falls within a 1.5-mile radius of a Saint-Gobain Performance
Plastics Corp. plant in neighboring Merrimack, which New Hampshire
officials are investigating as a possible source of PFOA
contamination. The state in March measured PFOA levels as high as
620 parts per trillion in private Litchfield wells.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has yet to declare PFOA
harmful to humans. "EPA has not yet made a determination as to
whether PFOA poses an unreasonable risk to the public, and there
are no steps that EPA recommends that consumers take to reduce
exposures to PFOA," it said in a statement.
On Monday, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based
nonprofit that assesses chemicals in consumer products and the
environment, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
urging the agency to set an enforceable drinking water standard for
the chemical, and to force former manufacturers to disclose all
sites in the U.S. where they used, made or dumped PFOA.
The advocacy group said the findings of PFOA contamination have
"gone from a regional problem to a national public health crisis
that continues to widen, with no apparent end in sight." The group,
which has a history of battling with industry on environmental
issues, has been raising health concerns about PFOA contamination
since 2002.
PFOA can be harmful to animals in high doses, causing tumors in
the liver and other parts of the body, according to several
scientific studies.
David Savitz, a vice president for research at Brown University,
said his studies have found the chemical might cause "modest
increases in disease," such as testicular cancer and hypertension
in pregnant women. "We're not talking about something that is an
established, documented health hazard," he said.
A multiyear medical study in the 2000s of 70,000 people near a
DuPont plant in West Virginia that made PFOA, found "some
suggestions" of "probable links" between high exposure to the
chemical and some illnesses. The study was funded by a settlement
between DuPont and plaintiffs suing the company over PFOA exposure,
and both the plaintiffs and DuPont had to approve the study's
findings, said Mr. Savitz, who served on the study panel.
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain
SA of France, operates the plants in Merrimack and Hoosick Falls,
N.Y., and it used to operate the plant in North Bennington, Vt.
Since last year, state investigators have found PFOA contamination
near all three sites, and they cited the plants as potential
sources.
"Saint-Gobain is participating in several ongoing investigations
-- in all three states -- to determine which party or parties may
be responsible for the PFOA," said spokeswoman Dina Pokedoff in an
email.
New York state in February committed at least $10 million for
cleanup of PFOA from drinking water in Hoosick Falls.
New Hampshire officials have expanded testing of water samples
near the plant, and announced that this week they plan to test soil
at nearby sites like schools and playgrounds. Vermont officials are
testing water samples around the state after finding problems in
two communities.
Vermont authorities have set a maximum drinking water limit of
20 parts per trillion, a standard that Saint-Gobain is challenging
in court. The EPA plans to issue permanent health advisory limit
sometime this spring, according to a spokeswoman.
"We're confident we're going to find how far-reaching the
problem is and deal with it," Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said.
Meantime, American Financial Group Inc. unit APU, whose former
subsidiary once owned a wire plant located near PFOA-contaminated
water in Pownal, Vt., agreed to cover costs for water sampling,
bottled water and filtration, Vermont officials said last week.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration in January declared
PFOA a "hazardous substance," and New York's Department of
Environmental Conservation earlier this year began conducting a
statewide investigation to see if contamination extends beyond
Hoosick Falls.
PFOA, which is highly resistant to water, solvents and acids,
was invented in the 1940s. EPA officials assume its use in
manufacturing has been widespread, and traces of the chemical have
been found throughout most of the country and in many people's
blood.
Researchers have found high concentrations in drinking water
near factories in states that include West Virginia.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2016 13:58 ET (17:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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