Communities not waiting for federal standards to test for 'forever chemicals' in their water
With no enforceable drinking water standard for substances known as "forever chemicals" at the state or federal level, local governments like Batavia and Evanston are monitoring them on their own.
There are about 5,000 of these human-made chemical compounds. Released into our soil, water and air through landfill leakage, sewage sludge and industrial waste, they have been the subject of growing environmental concerns due to their uniquely everlasting quality: Once leaked into the environment, PFAS never break down.
Gary Holm, Batavia's director of public works, said city workers performed the testing in January so that they would have data available ahead of the expected federal EPA announcement. While Batavia detected a level of 983 parts per trillion for PFBS, the result was less than half of the EPA's health advisory level of 2,000 parts per trillion.
Several suburbs, including Cary, Lake in the Hills and South Elgin, also have sued 3M, DuPont and other companies over the contamination.
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