 | | Locked gates prevent entry at Wolverine World Wide property in Kent County, Michigan. The site was closed in order to investigate the source of PFAS contamination. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue |
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| A potential lawsuit in North Carolina and legislation in Congress have together surfaced an under-the-radar debate about who shoulders the burden of preventing contamination of waterways with toxic PFAS chemicals.
On one side are wastewater utilities, who view themselves as conduits for pollution, not its creators. They do not want to be held liable for the steep cost of removing PFAS chemicals — costs that would then be passed along to city residents in the form of higher sewer bills.
On the other side are citizen groups and lawmakers, who are scrambling to find immediate legal, technical, and policy fixes for a class of manmade chemicals that has thousands of variations, several of which have been shown to damage human health even at outrageously tiny concentrations. |
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 | | The expense of operating a sewer system is causing financial distress for small communities in North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Greg Reese/Pixabay |
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| In response to financial hardships that are plaguing some of its smallest communities, the North Carolina Water Infrastructure Authority, at a February 12 meeting, approved a $150,000 grant for Cliffside Sanitary District, a tiny sewer provider in Rutherford County, in the state’s Appalachian foothills.
With a shrinking customer base, dwindling revenues, and decrepit pipes, Cliffside is in a precarious financial position. County officials estimate that the sewer system needs major improvements, about $10 million in upgrades and repairs, according to The News & Observer. Cliffside’s roughly 75 customers cannot foot that bill on their own. |
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Approximately 586,000 people in northwest Syria have been driven from their homes since December 1, when the national government began a campaign against rebel groups in Idlib and Aleppo governorates. The region is the last outpost of rebel control in the country.
The fighting is wreaking havoc on essential services, such as water, sanitation, and healthcare. |
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What's Up With Water - February 10, 2020
For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud.
This week's episode features coverage on Australia, where parts of New South Wales and Queensland are seeing some of the heaviest rains in two years. Additional international news looks at the Nile River basin, there is hope for an end to a long-running water feud. For news in the in the United States, municipal leaders in the Great Lake states are mindful of rising water levels as warmer and wetter winter conditions have continued high water trends. You can listen to the latest edition of What's Up With Water, as well as all past editions, by downloading the podcasts on iTunes, following Circle of Blue on Spotify, following on iHeart Radio, and subscribing on SoundCloud. |
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| From Circle of Blue's Archives: |
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 | | The Rogue River, which runs through Rockford, Michigan, foams often from PFAS chemicals that are leaching upstream from the former tannery site of Wolverine World Wide, a shoe manufacturer. Individuals in the Rockford area are suing Wolverine for contaminating groundwater as well. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/ Circle of Blue |
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| Potentially billions of dollars in damages are at stake in more than a hundred lawsuits against chemical companies, manufacturers, the U.S. military, and others for contaminating water supplies with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of more than 4,000 man-made chemicals known collectively as PFASs. |
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