DECATUR, Ala. — Roughly 100,000 Alabama residents got an alarming warning Thursday when they were told to not drink the tap water in their homes because it may be hazardous to their health.
The West Morgan East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority told their customers that the local water supply may have been contaminated with dangerous levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
PFOA is used in the manufacturing process for a wide variety of products, including fabrics, leather, electric wires, foam and teflon, and has been called an “essential processing aid” by famed science and technology company DuPont.
But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned that elevated levels of the chemical in drinking water can have “adverse effects for the environment and human health.”
“I recommend that all our customers do not drink our water, until we are able to bring the temporary system our engineer is designing online,” West Morgan East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority general manager Don Sims said Thursday. “I would rather be over-cautious than under-cautious… I’m not a doctor, I’m not a chemist, but when they tell one class of people the water is not safe, I don’t want to be the one to say ‘you drink it and you don’t.’ So I said nobody drink it.”
The water authority plans to have a new, temporary filter installed by September to address the issues. It will cost roughly $4 million. A permanent filter will not be completed until 2019 and could cost ten times that much. Until the new filters are in place, the water authority is urging customers not to drink the tap water or use it to cook.
The water authority and environmental activists have placed the blame for the elevated PFOA and PFOS levels squarely on nearby chemical companies, particularly 3M, against which they have filed a lawsuit.
“Quite simply, we call on 3M to fix it,” said Carl Cole, the water authority’s attorney. “Voluntarily fix this problem that you’ve caused, or we intend to have a north Alabama jury fix it for you and require you to do it.”
3M has downplayed the EPA’s claim that the presence of these chemicals — trace amounts of which are found in almost every American — causes health issues.
“3M’s activities in connection with these materials were not only fully permitted but entirely appropriate,” William Brewer, 3M’s attorney, replied. “In any event, we believe the claims against 3M – and recent actions taken by the water authority – are based upon the mistaken belief that the mere presence of these chemicals equals harm.”
(h/t WHNT)
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