US policymakers urged to take action on “millions of tons” of PFAS and microplastics

30 Nov 2023 --- Just Zero and more than 40 environmental organizations, scientists, public health advocates, and farmers across the US are calling on the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take stronger action against the spread of PFAS and microplastics from Massachusetts’ Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

According to Just Zero, the plant is the single largest source of these contaminants in Massachusetts and one of the largest sources in the entire country.

The treatment plant is responsible for managing sewage from 43 communities in the Boston metropolitan area and wastewater from industrial facilities, commercial entities and landfills.

“Wastewater treatment facilities are not designed or required to treat wastewater for contaminants like PFAS and microplastics,” says Laura Orlando, senior scientist at Just Zero.

“As a result, treatment facilities are discharging wastewater known to contain PFAS and microplastics directly into waterbodies across the country. They are also generating millions of tons of PFAS and microplastic-contaminated sewage sludge that gets spread over farms, gardens, and parks. EPA’s failure to regulate such large sources of PFAS and microplastics is irresponsible.”

PFAS pandemic
The call on the US EPA comes amid years of campaigning against PFAS, commonly used in packaging as a grease barrier for fiber-based materials — which are rising as anti-plastic sentiments among consumers increase.

Just Zero and its partners now want to prohibit Deer Island from spreading sewage sludge on land and accepting untreated landfill leachate to reduce or remove the presence of PFAS.

The comments also urge EPA to expand on proposed monitoring requirements for PFAS, to establish monitoring requirements for microplastics, and to maintain the independent science advisory panel responsible for monitoring the health of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays.

“One of the scariest things about this situation is that Deer Island is not an outlier,” said John Hocevar, Director of Greenpeace USA’s Ocean Campaign. “There are over 16,000 wastewater treatment plants in the country, and all of them are releasing dangerous levels of microplastics and PFAS in our oceans and rivers. EPA needs to take action now.”

“While Just Zero and our partners strongly believe that we need to turn off PFAS and microplastics at the source, we understand that in the meantime, we must reduce the flow of these toxic contaminants into the environment at the end of the pipe. Ensuring more stringent requirements for one of the largest wastewater treatment facilities in the country is an important way to accomplish this.”

Edited by Louis Gore-Langton

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