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EPA cracking down on forever chemicals in tap water
The Biden Administration is setting a national standard to limit forever chemicals in drinking water. Residents near former Willow Grove Naval Air Base are pleased with the new standard.
HORSHAM, Pa. - The Biden Administration is setting a national standard to limit forever chemicals in drinking water, something that has not been done before.
The Environmental Protection Agency is forcing chemicals known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, out of tap water and residents, impacted by the substances, are praising the plan.
Mary Joe Crooks mows her lawn in the Horsham neighborhood not far from the former Naval Air Base at Willow Grove. After nearly 30 years of living in this Montgomery County community, she’s left with a nagging concern. She said, "I think it may be related to that because, you know, it’s one of those conditions-people are concerned about-related to this."
In the neighborhoods near the base, it was in the water. PFAS were used in the firefighting foam on base, leached into ground water tainting wells and igniting concerns about cancer and other illnesses. Joanne Stanton is an environmental activist who grew up near the Naval Air Station. Stanton said, "As a mother, I know how it feels to have a doctor saying you child has cancer and later, unfathomably, that my exposure to PFAs-contaminated drinking water, during my pregnancy, could have actually caused my son’s cancer."
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Stanton appeared in a press conference via Zoom Wednesday to praise new rules by the Environmental Protection Agency forcing PFAS out of tap water. Water utilities must lower PFA levels to almost nothing.
U.S. Representative Madeline Dean represents Pennsylvania’s 4th. Congressional District. She said, "This rule will save thousands of lives, prevent tens of thousands of serious illnesses, make drinking water safer for millions of people for generations to come."
American Water, providing water to nearly 700,000 customers in Pennsylvania, in a statement its president wrote, "…we have been preparing for full compliance…" Adding, "We strongly support these efforts to protect public health."
In Horsham, Mary Joe Crooks has never been told her drinking water is tainted and is pleased with the transparency. She said, "I’m thinking it’s well beyond time that this should happen.e need to have safe water. We need the transparency."