DU TELLS LOCAL PLANTS UTILITY DEMANDS 3M, TORAY AND DAIKIN ELIMINATE CHEMICALS FROMWASTEWATER
The Decatur Daily, Eric Fleischauer
Published April 15, 2009
Decatur Utilities told three of the county's largest industries they must immediately present a plan to eliminate toxic chemicals from their waste, and they can expect to pay more for sewer services.
DU demanded that each company submit a plan next week to reduce or eliminate all perfluorinated compounds, including PFOA and PFOS. The companies are to immediately begin monthly monitoring of the precise amounts they discharge.
The companies receiving the order: 3M Co., Toray Fluorofibers (America) Inc. and Daikin America Inc.
"We have a limited number of options available to us at this time," said DU General Manager Ray Hardin in a written response to questions from The Daily. "Our short- and long-term solution continues to be focused on reducing and eliminating the source of PFOA coming into the wastewater treatment plant."
If the reduction plan does not begin by May 16, DU said in the letter, the companies may not discharge any wastewater into the treatment system without interim authorization from the utility.
PFOA and PFOS have bedeviled DU since November. At that time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified the public utility that its main method of disposing of sludge from its wastewater treatment plant was contaminating area farms. Farmers used the sludge as fertilizer.
EPA discovered soil levels so high on Lawrence County farms that, fearing contamination of drinking water, the agency in January imposed its first-ever public health advisory on PFOA.
ADEM took samples from the wastewater discharges of the three companies in January. All three tested over the drinking-water advisory amount on either PFOA or PFOS.
3M's discharges to the wastewater treatment plant were the highest, about 45 times the drinking-water advisory limit for PFOA and 140 times the limit for PFOS.
Wastewater
Daikin officials said they do not discharge process wastewater into DU. ADEM test results showed their discharge to DU, however, was above the drinking-water advisory for PFOS.
"Daikin does not, and has never used, PFOS," said plant Environmental Manager Ralph Werling. "Note that the levels of PFOS detected are, in any case, very low. We do not have a clear understanding at this time about why these levels of PFOS were found in the ADEM data."
Werling said Daikin treats its process wastewater, mainly using carbon filtration and incineration. Sludge from some process wastewater goes to Morris Farms landfill in Hillsboro.
In its letter to the companies, DU said EPA, "has advised Decatur Utilities that ... no biosolids containing PFOA or PFOS should be land applied."
An EPA spokeswoman said Wednesday the agency has issued no orders limiting DU's application of biosolids.
The monthly monitoring requirement imposed by DU on the companies requires testing for 17 different perfluorinated compounds.
Many companies are trying to reduce the use of PFOA, but most are switching to less-studied perfluorinated compounds that may have similar health effects and may convert to PFOA or PFOS in the environment, according to Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at Environmental Working Group.
Only two laboratories in the nation test for the compounds. The cost of soil-sample tests is about $6,000 per sample.
In response to questions from The Daily, all three companies were vague about whether they would monitor their wastewater for perfluorinated compounds this month, as DU required.
"In response to DU's request," said Werling, in a response similar to the other companies, "we will be working with them to figure out what is the most appropriate monitoring and reporting."
Warning
The letter DU sent to the three companies also warned they would pay more for waste disposal. DU is paying about $50,000 more per month to dispose of its sludge in landfills than it did for the decade its disposal was on farms.
"DU is assessing an appropriate method of recovering these additional costs from PFC dischargers," the letter said. "Once a determination is made, DU will invoice each discharger of PFCs for these additional costs."
Tests in January by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management showed no detectible amount of the toxins in Decatur or Moulton's public water supplies.
Levels at the West Morgan-East Lawrence water treatment plant were below the EPA's advisory limit.
EPA tests
EPA tests revealed two contaminated drinking-water wells in Lawrence County, however, one in active use. EPA officials refused to divulge the location of the well, but said the well users are now drinking bottled water.
Tests also found high levels of PFOA and PFOS in several grazing ponds.
Early this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was to take tissue samples from cattle that grazed on land treated with DU biosolids. The agency expects results in about two weeks.
The EPA banned most uses of PFOS in 2000, but the chemical does not break down in the environment. 3M used the chemical before the ban.
PFOA, and previously PFOS, are used to make Teflon-related chemicals that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. In addition to pans, PFOA is used to make coatings for fast-food packaging and microwaveable popcorn containers.
The chemicals are suspected carcinogens. Some studies have linked them to birth defects, liver problems, infertility and immune-system defects. The chemicals do not occur naturally, and they accumulate in the body.
