Polyfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — include various types of substances known as PFOA, PFOS and GenX. They were once used in manufacturing, carpeting, upholstery, food packaging and other commercial and military uses. The substances were — and still are, in some places — used to extinguish fires that couldn’t be extinguished with water alone.
Studies suggest that exposure to the chemical might affect pregnancy, increase cholesterol levels and cause some forms of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Both raw and finished water were tested and came back as “below detectable limits," said Jason Tincu, Greene County’s director of sanitary engineering.
Although this is good news, Tincu said the Ohio EPA did not fully scan all water sources and supplies, so the county has decided to do their own system-wide scan. This will include all facilities and connections with Dayton, Montgomery County and Fairborn.
“As a community member and user of this utility, if I had customers call me in from an area that I wasn’t involved in sampling or I didn’t screen because we didn’t pull from each source water area, I couldn’t tell them as a neighbor and as a customer and as a leader of this organization that I’m 100% confident that I didn’t find this contaminant in their water,” Tincu said.
Tincu said the county has hired Jacobs, a Texas-based waste water consulting firm, to conduct the sampling for about $25,000. The fee will come from the county’s water fund. Sampling is scheduled to start on Oct. 20, Tincu said, adding that the county will get results in four to six weeks. Tincu said the county plans to share those results with the community when completed.
If any of the “forever chemical” were to be detected in any of the Greene County water sources, Tincu said they would immediately retest. If the chemical were to be detected at what the Ohio EPA has determined an unsafe and actionable level, 70 parts per trillion, then the county would likely contact the EPA. Tincu said that equates to one drop in a regular size swimming pool.
“I am optimistic that we won’t find any trace, but we just want to be sure,” Tincu said. “I don’t think we’ll find anything above ‘detect,’ but the last thing I would want to do is just assume we don’t have any issues.”
Dayton and Montgomery County have had issues with PFAS in the water.
PFAS-based foams were formerly used at the city of Dayton Fire Training Center during testing exercises. The foams also have been used in exercises and actual fires at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Both sites are located above the aquifer that supplies the region’s drinking water.
Some of the chemicals seeped into city of Dayton wells, which were immediately shut down.
The U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are paying for various research projects, including one tested at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Air Force alone is expected to spend more than $2.2 billion to clean up PFAS-contaminated sites nationwide, according to the U.S. EPA.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s proximity to the Greene County aquafer is a main reason for doing this PFAS screening. The regional geologist has said that the county’s aquafer is contained separate from the base, Tincu said.
“But we’re not for sure and this is why we’re sampling,” Tincu said. “The samples that were taken were all non-detect, so we don’t expect to find anything, but just want to make sure.”
Greene County is set to begin about $45 million of work on its water system in the next year. This will include a new wellfield development, an expansion of the water treatment plant, adding water softening technology, upgrading booster systems and updating the water meter system.
“This is the contaminant of the future and before we invest tens of millions of dollars into this new system, we better know if we have any of this out in the system,” Tincu said.
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