Georgia Officials Knew Carpet Mills Polluted Calhoun Tap Water With PFAS

In Calhoun, Georgia, Stormy Bost said her family’s sweet tea was brewed using tap water until she learned the local tap water contained toxic chemicals known as PFAS.

Bost, who grew up in northwest Georgia where textile mills relied on PFAS such as Stainmaster and Scotchgard for stain resistance, said the chemicals accumulated in her body, with blood tests showing her PFAS levels are higher than national health guidelines consider safe.

AL

At 34, she has been diagnosed with liver and thyroid conditions, which research has linked to PFAS, and she said, "Your family’s going through a gallon every day or two, and it’s cheap."

The Associated Press investigation described how some PFAS that didn’t adhere to carpets were flushed with industrial wastewater into local sewer pipes and, eventually, the region’s rivers, which supply drinking water.

The Associated Press said Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division did little to confront PFAS, issuing neither fish advisories nor do-not-drink orders to the public even as concerns grew among scientists and federal regulators.

It also said testing by the University of Georgia in 2008 alerted the industry and state that the local Conasauga River was polluted with "staggeringly high" levels of PFAS.

Associated Press

The investigation described how Georgia’s EPD deflected efforts by neighboring Alabama and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency to track the chemicals more closely, even as PFAS migrated more than 100 miles downriver and across the state line.

In response to Alabama’s PFAS findings in 2016, local utility officials looked to Georgia for answers, and Alabama sent letters to Georgia in 2017 and 2018 requesting data.

Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division Deputy Director Anna Truszczynski said her agency looked to federal regulators for guidance and waited for scientists to better understand the risks of PFAS.

“The Carpet and Rug Institute building, center, in downtown Dalton, Ga”

Clinton Herald

She said EPD helped several cities struggling with contamination by providing testing support, connecting them to potential funding sources and advising them on possible filtration technologies, adding, "We believe that there can be a good balance between environment and economy."

The Associated Press investigation also reported that the state is considering rules limiting the amount of certain PFAS in public drinking water, following federal standards set to take effect in several years.

It further described that federal rules would place drinking water safety limits on two of the forever chemicals once relied on by the carpet industry, while Georgia is still not regulating PFAS "in contrast to other states" that have invested tens of millions of dollars in cleanups and sued polluters to recoup costs.