11th Hour PFOA Advisory Issued by Bush Administration

Before leaving office, Bush administration officials issued a first-ever advisory on how much PFOA, a likely carcinogen, should be in drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says drinking water should contain only .4 parts per-billion of PFOA.The likely carcinogen has been found in concentrations as high as five-parts per-billion in Northwest Georgia's Conasauga River, a drinking water source to Rome and other communities.

The chemical compound gets in the river from a spray field operated by energy provider Dalton Utilities.The advisory, however, is not mandatory and Dalton Utilities says, it won't take any action on it until told to do so by the company's permitting authority, the state Environmental Protection Division.

So far, the EPD hasn't commented on the federal advisory, a first of its kind. Other states, including Minnesota, have put even stricter limits on PFOA, measuring its acceptable levles in parts per trillion.

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