OSCODA, Mich. — PFAS are substances known all too well in West Michigan.
A few years ago, the chemical was found near the former dumping site near Wolverine Worldwide in Rockford.
The "forever chemical" has been linked to a variety of health issues, including a few deaths. So, when the Biden Administration announced Tuesday morning a proposal to create the country’s first ever national drinking water standard, solely to protect the public from PFAS, Anthony Spaniola applauded.
“As someone who is impacted by PFAS, and that’s what you see behind me at my home in Oscoda, Michigan, this is a watershed moment,” Spaniola said during a Zoom interview with FOX 17 while pointing to a picture of foam and water behind him. “This announcement and this decision is something that impacted communities like mine have been calling for and waiting for for years.”
PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals found in a variety of household products including cleaning goods, cookware, personal care items, makeup and the fabric of rain coats and umbrellas. It’s also been found in foam on various military bases throughout the country.
Additionally, it’s been detected in many water supply systems. Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said that’s what the administration is focused on.
“I think what they’re mostly doing is they’re saying we’ve identified the six PFAS, and as you said there’s a number of different ones, we’ve identified the ones that we from our research know to be more in water,” Mallory said during a Zoom interview. “So, they’re like targeting and prioritizing the ones that they think are the most problematic and they are going to make the companies actually measure for them. Right now they don’t really have an obligation to measure for them.”
According to the EPA, the proposal would limit PFAS and PFOS to four parts per trillion, a limit set last year. Meanwhile, any mixture from other kinds — PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX chemicals — would be calculated in a hazard index to determine if any of it is hazardous.
Mallory said currently there’s nothing forcing water supply systems to measure for PFAS and then subsequently alert the public. However, the new proposal, if passed, would change that.
“The EPA has really stepped up and has done what needs to be done. What they’re saying is there are no safe levels of PFOA or PFOS, two of the regional PFAS contaminants, there’s no safe levels at all,” Spaniola said. “And they have set a drinking water standard just above zero because we don’t have the technology to adequately measure down to zero. The goal is to get to zero ultimately.”
Spaniola said he knew about the White House’s big announcement when he attended an embargoed meeting regarding it on Monday. Spaniola is co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network. He helped establish the group, with others in the state, after he found foam on a lake near his home in Oscoda.
“So, my family has a home on Van Etten Lake in Oscoda, Michigan, and right across the lake from us is the former WurstSmith Air Force base in Oscoda Michigan. So, we’re the first PFAS contaminant site in Michigan,” he said. “We were discovered in 2010. We’re also the first military-operated PFAS contaminant site in the world. There are hundreds of them all across the world. We were the first.”
Spaniola took pictures of the foam and warned people to stay away from it. He even worked with the state for years to put up signs near it, warning people about how dangerous it was.
“The scary part of this is the chemicals stay, like I have a grandson who’s two years old. If he ingests PFAS today it will not leave his system,” Spaniola said. “The PFAS he ingested today will not leave his system until he’s 50 or 60 years old. That is terrifying. The chemicals, give them their due. They’re very effective but they don’t break down.”
Thus, they’re bad for the environment, he said.
Mallory said the public can look at the proposal and comment on it. Afterwards, the proposal should be finalized by the end of the year.
As for Spaniola, he said Tuesday was an exciting day because finally their collective voices were heard.
“If you’re sitting in a restaurant and I walked in with a dropper of something and started dropping drops of stuff in your water glass, I would be arrested. I would be thrown in jail. And there would be no, essentially no questions asked, right?” Spaniola said. “Our system is all backwards. We pollute and contaminate the water and then we wait to see what happened and human beings are the guinea pigs. We’ve got to turn that around.”
***To look at the proposal, click here.***
