[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: Pennsylvania hearing

[Lenny Siegel]

Residents, experts tell Pennsylvania officials that PFAS chemical cleanup will be expensive and difficult, but it's time to act
"These chemicals are destroying lives. We need you to make changes today, not tomorrow.”

by Kristina Marusic and Oliver Morrison
Environmental Health News
November 30, 2018

Pennsylvania environmental officials are bracing for a future filled with lawsuits and angry citizens as the state tries to get a handle on widespread chemical contamination that some other states have already begun to mitigate.

At a public hearing on Friday held by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection [DEP], experts from states, like New Jersey and Michigan, testified about a group of chemicals referred to as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

Hundreds of sites across the country, including at least 20 in Pennsylvania, have been contaminated by PFAS.

PFAS chemicals have been used in hundreds of consumer products that repel water or oil, such as waterproof clothing and non-stick pans. But, so far the biggest contamination sites have been discovered around industrial sites and military bases that used fire-fighting foams containing PFAS. The biggest threat to the public, according health officials, is how these chemicals are leaching into the water supply.


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For the entire article, see
https://www.ehn.org/residents-experts-tell-pa-officials-that-pfas-chemical-cleanup-will-be-expensive-and-difficult-but-its-time-to-act-2622011117.html

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org