Wastewater Treatment

The Legal Side of PFAS in Water | WWD Weekly Digest

April 1, 2021

On March 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule designed to tackle PFAS in water. PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been a growing concern for water industry professionals for years, but they are not new chemicals so much as they have received greater recent attention due to documentaries such as The Devil We Know.

Ken Sansone is a partner at SL Environmental, a legal firm specializing in making companies contributing to PFAS contamination accountable to help utilities pay for equipment upgrades to remove the contamination in their systems. Sansone covers the challenges of addressing PFAS in water through federal legislation and how local, state and regional rules further complicate the regulation environment for these chemicals. He also highlights the importance of rules such as the UCMR 5 in starting a discussion on standardizing methods for testing and removal and what industry professionals can expect for future regulations.

Intro: (0:00)
How has legislation held companies accountable for PFAS contamination?: (0:30)
Where do current regulations on PFAS in water stand?: (3:39)
How local, regional and state regulations complicate PFAS contamination rules: (6:34)
How the complex regulation framework challenges original equipment manufacturers: (9:24)
Understanding the other hurdles for complying with PFAS regulations: (11:03)
Expectations of the UCMR 5 and what will happen next: (12:22)
Why PFAS are so difficult to destroy after removal: (14:45)
Outro: (16:44)