PFAS legislation would set drinking water limits

With the recent rains New York has experienced, environmental advocates are calling on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation banning PFAS in drinking water while also raising concerns about algal blooms.

“What New York’s been experiencing, a lot of people, especially in the Hudson Valley, have been calling it thousand-year storms,” said Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates New York.

Fajans-Turner says more than ever, New York needs legislation to enforce stronger limits on PFAS in drinking water.

PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are a class of more than 15,000 toxic chemicals that appear in a vast range of everyday consumer products to industrial ones.

They’ve been linked to kidney cancer and low birth weights.

Fajans-Turner says heavy rains like the state recently experienced often aren’t absorbed by the soil.

As a result, those rains often cause runoff and stormwater that dumps dangerous chemicals into our water ways, not just from potential soil contamination, but also from litter and trash of products that contain PFAS.

Some of those toxic chemicals can also promote the growth of algal blooms.

“This is a piece of legislation that we want to put four parts per trillion (4.0 ppt) into statues,” said Niamh Moore, director of healthy communities for Environmental Advocates New York.

Moore tells Spectrum News 1 that Environmental Advocates New York worked on the bills that passed during the legislative session, which would establish contaminant levels and a hazard index in drinking water when it comes to PFAS.

In the state Senate, the legislation was sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Brian Kavanagh. At the time, the senator said, “As the Trump administration rolls back critical federal protections, we are once again stepping up to keep New Yorkers safe.”

As far as if the bill will be signed into law, a spokesperson for Hochul tells Spectrum News 1: “Governor Hochul is committed to protecting our water quality and the communities that depend on it, and she will review this legislation.”