EPA Looking For Likely Carcinogen in NW Georgia Drinking Water

GPB has learned the Environmental Protection Agency tested drinking water supplies for a likely carcinogen in the Rome and Dalton areas earlier this year.

Samples were collected at the end of March. The agency tested for PFOA, and for other similar compounds. That’s according to internal EPA documents obtained by GPB.

According to preliminary results, the EPA found the likely carcinogen in the drinking water supply at one part per billion. Federal officials say that’s an acceptable level, however, that level is at least twice as high as what’s allowed in other states, such as Minnesota and New Jersey.

Those states are concerned about the health risks of exposure to PFOA and other similar compounds. PFOA has been linked to infertility, birth defects, various types of cancers, dementia and stroke. The chemical is believed to come from the carpet industry in Dalton, where it’s been used as a stain guard. The EPA expects the final results to come in by the end of the summer. No public health advisories have been issued, or are expected to be issued, based on the preliminary results.

Decatur PFOA Find Could Lead to Regulations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are investigating how record amounts of PFOA and other Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) turned up in Decatur, Alabama sludge.

The investigation could eventually lead to regulated PFOA standards in sewage treatment, officials say, although much more data and studies would need to be completed before making such a determination. Already, the high levels in Decatur prompted an EPA drinking water advisory for PFOA and PFOS.

The question investigators have is whether Decatur is a unique case.

PFOA is classified by the EPA as a “likely carcinogen,” and numerous studies have linked it to various cancers. It is often described as a byproduct of making stain resistant carpet, and an ingredient in manufacturing non-stick surfaces such as Teflon.

Any new standards could impact a wastewater treatment plant in Whitfield County operated by Dalton Utilities that releases PFOA and other PFCs that eventually end up in the Conasauga River, a source of drinking water for several Northwest Georgia Communities.

Some samples gathered by the EPA in the Conasauga's surface water have shown 12.5 times the advisable amount for drinking water.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division tested the Conasaugua for PFOA and PFCs, but are still evaluating the results from that summer survey.

Dalton Utilities says they need more guidance from permitting authorities, and will not change operations until then.

In an effort to find the sources of PFOA in Decatur, EPA officials have requested information from fourteen companies with Alabama operations, including 3M, Japanese based chemical manufacturer Daikin, and Toray Flurofibers. According to EPA officials, all three chemical companies have been cooperative and are not suspected of any wrongdoing or law violations.

The EPA is also looking into privately held Alabama waste company, Biological Processors of Alabama, Inc, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to several EPA workers, the Decatur case has prompted renewed interest in studying PFOA and other related compounds as a matter of public health. As recently as last year, the EPA was criticized by some chemical makers for devoting resources towards studying PFOA, which is scheduled to be phased out by 2015.