This morning, EPA released its Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS. The Agency’s full materials are posted on its website. Of particular relevance for public clean water agencies, we encourage you to review a Fact Sheet for Wastewater Treatment Plants.

EPA is hosting a webinar at Noon ET tomorrow to provide additional information on the draft risk assessment, capped at 500 attendees. NACWA will be joining the webinar and we encourage interested utilities to register as soon as possible, as well.

In its release, EPA states clearly that the draft risk assessment does not model risks for, nor indicate any risk to, the general public and finds there is no risk to the general food supply. EPA has also made clear that this is a draft, which could undergo further changes, and has no regulatory impact. Nonetheless, the Draft Risk Assessment does find that the presence of PFOA and PFOS, even at relatively low concentrations, may adversely affect human health for the hypothetical farm family used in EPA’s modeling, and therefore may spark interest among the media and public. The New York Times has already published an article about the assessment which quotes NACWA’s CEO, Adam Krantz.

NACWA met with EPA staff yesterday to preview the Draft Risk Assessment, and we will be providing additional resources to the NACWA membership regarding the assessment tomorrow after we have a chance to fully review. These resources will include strategic communications resources for clean water utilities. NACWA will also submit detailed comments on the risk assessment to EPA.

We encourage utilities to reach out to NACWA staff with your thoughts as you review these materials. Please feel free to contact Cynthia Finley or Kristina Surfus on the NACWA staff.