Sens.
Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan brought concerns from Granite Staters on Wednesday in the first-ever U.S. Senate hearing on PFAS contamination.
Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense fielded questions from Shaheen, Hassan and other U.S. senators about what is being done to study the health effects of the chemicals.
“Are there technology improvements that are being worked on or lie ahead to improve the treatment of drinking water and reduce cost to private well owners?” Hassan asked.
“Absolutely, without question, and EPA has an active research program in collaboration with other federal partners to identify technologies for treating these compounds, not only in drinking water, but actually in other sources like contaminated sites,” replied Peter Grevatt, directors of the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
“While we have studies that indicate potential adverse health effects due to a few PFAS, our findings are limited, and we do not have data for thousands of PFAS that have not been well-studied,” said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health.
Hassan invited Portsmouth resident Andrea Amico, who started the push for group testing for Pease International Tradeport.
Amico testified before the committee about how contaminated water has affected her family.
“I live every day with worry that my children, who were exposed to high levels of PFAS in their early life and at critical stages of their development, will now suffer adverse health effects over their lifetime,” Amico said.
“However, I have channeled those feelings of anxiety and worry into my advocacy work by forming a community action group called Testing for Pease, with two other mothers, Alayna Davis and Michelle Dalton.” The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is holding a meeting in Merrimack on Oct. 10 to provide an update on the PFAS investigation.

Home | Environment Union Leader Correspondent Several residents from New Hampshire traveled to Washington this week to participate in the first-ever Senate hearing on polyfluoroalkyl substances, urging legislators to take more action to address the growing contamination.
Laurene Allen of Merrimack reminded federal officials that PFAS chemicals are not regulated or designated as toxic substances.
“Despite an extensive and growing library of health science linking every PFAS compound studied to health disruptive outcomes at lower exposure levels than acknowledged, only PFOA and PFOS currently have health advisories,” Allen wrote in a statement provided to senators and entered into the congressional record on behalf of the Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water.
Several Granite State residents attended the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs’ subcommittee hearing: The Federal Role in the Toxic PFAS Chemical Crisis.
“It is currently estimated that 1,500 drinking water systems serving up to 110 million Americans are contaminated with PFAS chemicals,” said Allen, adding Merrimack is just one of many communities affected by the problem.
Before Wednesday’s special Senate hearing, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a new analysis highlighting the significant health risk posed by PFAS.
“This report reaffirms what concerned Granite Staters already know — urgent federal action is needed to address PFAS contamination at military bases and communities across the country,” Sen. Maggie Hassan said in a release.
“I’m glad to be participating in the first-ever Senate hearing on PFAS this week, but we have far more work to do to protect Granite Staters and Americans from contamination in their drinking water.” Andrea Amico of Testing for Pease in Portsmouth also planned to testify at the hearing, saying it is important to show that there are real people with real families that have been impacted by the widespread contamination.
“We want our government officials to understand what our needs are and what we need from them to help us solve this nationwide problem,” Amico said in a statement.
“We cannot change the past, but I know we have the ability to do better.” NashuaNews@unionleader.com

TRENTON — The troubled Trenton Water Works remains in dire straits under Mayor Reed Gusciora as the city-owned utility continues to rack up violations, establishing 2018 as TWW’s most noncompliant year on record with three months remaining on the calendar.
TWW, which provides drinking water to residents in Trenton and four nearby suburbs, has been cited with 12 violations since Jan. 1, surpassing the record of 11 violations from last year, according to electronic DEP records dating back to 1992.
TWW’s record-breaking noncompliance in 2018 began with former Mayor Eric Jackson and continued into the inaugural term of Gusciora, who succeeded Jackson on July 1.
Some level of contamination is legally acceptable, but it is a violation if TTHM exceeds the maximum contaminant level of 80ug/L and if HAA5 exceeds the maximum contaminant level of 60ug/L.
In the latest violations, the TWW level for TTHM exceeded the maximum contaminant level at three sampling locations at 85, 87 and 91 ug/L, and the level for HAA5 exceeded the MCL at two locations at 63 ug/L, according to the city’s public notice.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says some people who drink water containing TTHM in excess of the maximum contaminant level over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer, and some people who drink water containing HAA5 in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
“Mayor Gusciora has tasked me to use all my knowledge and experience as a former water system regulator and mayor to reorganize Trenton Water Works, advance capital projects at the water filtration plant to improve water quality, and bolster regulatory compliance,” Hsueh said Wednesday in a statement.
Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede of Hamilton and members of Hamilton Township Council have been particularly critical of Trenton’s public water system after the city slowly issued a boil water advisory on Jan. 15, a date when the water became temporarily unsafe to drink.
Chris Christie left office, his administration blasted former Mayor Jackson’s administration for the ongoing problems at TWW.
“The City’s inability or unwillingness to act with the urgency the current situation requires,” former DEP commissioner Bob Martin said in a letter dated Jan. 12, “potentially puts at risk the health of the 225,000 people TWW serves in the City of Trenton and in Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence and Hopewell townships.” Trenton Water Works has had 57 individual violations since 1992.

Updated: September 27, 2018 2:05 pm SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Water safety issues highlighted Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.
Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said the Maine Department of Environment Protection would issue an order prohibiting drilling water wells in the Hooper Sands Road area due to detection of carbon tetrachloroethylene, a known carcinogen, in the aquifer.
The DEP addressed the contamination in the 1990s, but at the Sept. 11 council meeting it was noted a Hooper Sands Road homeowner discovered the same contaminant in a new well on their property.
Ellsworth said Poland Springs offered to supply water to the homeowner, but alternate access to water is being provided by the town.
Old Mill resident and Town Council candidate Abigail Kemble also raised concerns about elevated arsenic levels in her water supply, according to notices from the South Berwick Water District.
According to the notices, arsenic levels of 11 parts per billion were found.
A level of 10.58 ppb is the safe threshold for this heavy metal.
While acknowledging Kemble’s issue, Councilor Russell Abell said cancer risks associated with such levels of arsenic usually occur “after a lifetime exposure to such concentrations.” Noting they do not have jurisdiction over town water service, councilors advised Kemble to contact the water district with her concerns.
For more news about the South Berwick Town Council, visit seacoastonline.com.

Stoughton officials say the drinking water is safe to drink after contaminants were found in a raw water sample on Sept. 26.
The Stoughton Water Department, which routinely tests the supply, stressed that the water from the Muddy Pond Well (05G) that tested positive for E.coli was in the raw water supply.
It is important to note that samples collected on Sept. 26 in the distribution system to taps did not detect any fecal contaminants.
Fecal indicators are used to detect ground water sources that may be susceptible to fecal contamination which may contain harmful viruses or bacteria, if left untreated.
The finished water collected from the Muddy Pond Station and all 15 distribution samples that were taken were clear, according to the officials.
It will take further actions as necessary.
This is not an emergency, and residents do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions.
The EPA supplies the following information on fecal indicators, which are microbes that indicates water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes, according to the EPA.
They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems.
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The class of toxic chemicals, commonly used in nonstick cookware, firefighting foam, and many consumer products, has been discovered in high concentrations in cities near military bases and industrial chemical manufacturing plants.
Exposure to PFAS has been linked to various cancers in adults and children, kidney disease, birth defects, and developmental disorders.
The hearing comes amid a wave of criticism over the EPA’s delayed response to regulating PFAS despite decades of private lawsuits against chemical manufacturers and scientific data showing its human and environmental health hazards.
The bills, known as the PFAS Accountability Act of 2018 in the House and PFAS Accountability Act (S. 3381) in the Senate, would require federal agencies to work with impacted states to “facilitate testing, monitoring, removal, and remediation” of PFAS from contaminated drinking water resources.
(At the hearing, when pressed on whether the ATSDR report would trigger the EPA to revise their PFAS health advisory limit, EPA representative Peter C. Grevatt stated that “based on current science our value is supported” and that “there’s a difference” between ATSDR’s scientific focus and EPA’s.)
This is a complicated process that often takes years to complete: at yesterday’s hearing, in response to repeated demands from senators for a timeline of when the EPA would set an enforceable maximum contaminant level, Grevatt countered that the agency is required to execute a series of time-consuming steps outlined in the Safe Water Drinking Act.
The agency scheduled a series of “listening sessions” in impacted communities across the country this summer.
Everywhere we use the bathroom, the contamination will spread.” At the hearing, members of communities with contaminated drinking water demanded that the EPA fast- track regulation, and shoulder the financial burdens of site remediation.
In 2015, parents discovered that the drinking water supplied to the daycare center from the base had high concentrations of PFAS; now, Amico’s children must undergo multiple blood tests and monitoring for signs of developmental complications.
“The fear of the unknown,” said Amico, was the worst part of discovering high levels of PFAS in a community.

Video CONWAY, SC (WBTW)- The Conway wastewater plant is operational again, after flood waters temporarily shut down the plant, and allowed untreated water to flow into the Waccamaw River.
People who live down from the Conway Water Treatment Facility are dealing with flooding from Florence and effects from the water treatment facility being shut down.
The CEO of Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority said due to the heavy flooding Tuesday, the Conway facility had some electrical issues and was non operational for 24 hours.
"The water was flowing from the City of Conway now keep in mind most of the water that’s coming through the treatment plant is river water to begin with," said Fred Richardson, CEO of Grand Strand Water and Sewage Authority.
"It would be good to know what kind of long term effects this will have.
It goes under their porch over there next to it and as you can see from down here they have the water inside.
What’s that going to be like, how are they going to clean inside their house if that water is contaminated," said Braziel.
Braziel said the same thing happened during Hurricane Matthew.
Grand Strand Water and Sewer said they don’t expect to have to shut down again, but they do anticipate an increase in water flows.
DHEC said they are not testing water right now because they expect flood waters to be contaminated with high levels of bacteria.

Rather than sending water samples to laboratories and waiting days for results, this new test can be administered locally to obtain answers within hours, according to new research published by The Royal Society of Chemistry, August 2018.
"Drinking water contaminated with E. coli is a major public health concern," said Sam Nugen, Ph.D., Cornell associate professor of food science.
"These phages can detect their host bacteria in sensitive situations, which means we can provide low-cost bacteria detection assays for field use—like food safety, animal health, bio-threat detection and medical diagnostics."
The luciferase is fused to a carbohydrate (sugar) binder, so that when the bacteriophage finds the E. coli in water, an infection starts, and the fusion enzyme is made.
After the bacteriophage binds to the E. coli, the phage shoots its DNA into the bacteria.
"That is the beginning of the end for the E. coli," said Nugen.
The bacteriophage then lyses (breaks open) the bacterium, releasing the enzyme as well as additional phages to attack other E. coli.
Said Nugen: "This bacteriophage detects an indicator.
"Phage-based detection technologies have the potential to rapidly determine if a water source is safe to drink, a result that serves to immediately improve the quality of life of those in the community through the prevention of disease," he said.
DOI: 10.1039/C8AN00781K

Honolulu, HI (KITV) — Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut products produced at their Kea’au facility have been recalled, due to possible E. coli contamination.
Detection of E. coli was found in the well water and distribution system supplying the facility in Kea’au.
All retailers selling Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut products received after September 6th and through September 21, are asked to removed them from shelves due to the hazard potential.
“There is clear evidence that food produced at the Kea‘au facility may be contaminated and consumers may be at risk,” said Peter Oshiro, Sanitation Branch chief.
“The Department of Health is working with the facility to ensure the safety of their drinking water and food production.” Before operations resume, the DOH is working with the company to ensure their facility is cleared, and their drinking water is safe.
Until then, the Mauna Loa Kea’au facility will remain closed.
General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1(800) 426-4791.
If you have any questions, please call 1(844) 344-5444, Monday – Friday, 8am-4pm HST.
This is a toll-free number.

Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said the Maine Department of Environment Protection would issue an order prohibiting drilling water wells in the Hooper Sands Road area due to detection of carbon tetrachloroethylene, a known carcinogen, in the aquifer.
Old Mill resident and Town Council candidate Abigail Kemble also raised concerns about elevated arsenic levels in her water supply, according to notices from the South Berwick Water District.
A level of 10.58 ppb is the safe threshold for this heavy metal.
In other business Ellsworth said due to extenuating circumstances it is unlikely a sewer line can be implemented in the Route 236 TIF district.
Specifically, a Maine Department of Transportation right of way would not be large enough to allow access to a sewer line.
Councilors learned a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on a proposed medical marijuana storefront was postponed because the ZBA chairman lives near the proposed store.
The chairman’s absence meant the lack of a quorum to rule on the appeal, which led Council Chairman Jack Kareckas to urge more citizens to serve in town government.
The council later approved residents James Mundy and Maya Bog as new ZBA members.
Both were rejected due to the town’s current moratorium on such establishments.
The council appointed Ellsworth to manage two funds that benefit the town library.