Advocates and Bill Sponsors Say: Act on PFAS Before End of Session
Unveil Statewide Map Detailing $750 million in Taxpayer Costs for PFAS Contamination Cleanup
New Bill Will Ban “Forever Chemicals” in Many Products, Is Part of Multi-Bill Package
(Albany, statewide) Advocates highlighted the high cost of ongoing PFAS use, and released a new map of the state, revealing $752 million being spent so far on the cleanup of PFAS contaminated sites from far western NY to the North Country and Long Island. No area of the state is unaffected. In response, they and Senators and Assemblymembers called for action before the close of the NYS legislative session.
The Map and supporting information are available here.
Because PFAS - or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of over 10,000 different specific chemicals - does not break down easily, and is widely used in manufacturing, products like paint, clothing, furniture, shoes, carpets, cosmetics and other personal care products, food packaging, firefighting foam, floor polishes and other cleaning products, and more, it will continue to contaminate New York’s soil and drinking water.
Bills to address this problem have been moving this session, and speakers highlighted the need for both houses to pass key legislation:
S.6291A (Hoylman) / A.7063A (Fahy) - Ban PFAS in Apparel has passed the Assembly and is on the floor of the Senate.
S.3331A (Rivera) / A.143 (Gottfried) - Safe Personal Care and Cosmetics Act bans a number of toxic chemicals including PFAS and is on the floor of the Senate and in the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.
S.5027C (Kavanagh) / A. 9279A (Englebright) - The Carpet Responsibility bill includes a ban on PFAS and has passed both houses.
They announced a new bill, introduced but pending a bill number, by Assemblymember Zebrowski to ban PFAS in key consumer and commercial products: textile articles, rugs, fabric treatments, cookware, ski waxes, architectural paints, and cleaning products. Bills to ban PFAS in these categories have passed or are pending in other states. For example, Colorado passed a bill that is now before the Governor that would ban carpets and rugs, fabric treatments, some types of food packaging, juvenile products, oil and gas products, propellants in cosmetics, textile furnishings, furniture and upholstery.
“As we work to tackle the dangers of PFAS in our communities, we have learned that we must address how these chemicals are actually ending up in our water, soil, bodies, etc.," said Caitlin Ferrante, Conservation Program Manager, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “By focusing on policy that would look to ban PFAS in common products, we would be taking the necessary steps in turning off the toxic tap on these forever chemicals, and would build on the laws we have successfully passed in NYS to date, including addressing PFAS in fire fighting foam and in food packaging. We are grateful for all the leadership shown by the Senate and Assembly on this important issue. We look forward to getting these bills passed and signed into law so that our communities and environment are further protected from these toxic chemicals.”
“PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances is known as forever chemicals for a reason. They are a class of chemicals that is used in everything from our nonstick cookware to food packaging to our drinking water- and our bodies absorb those chemicals”, says Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Co-Chair of the JustGreen Partnership. “For decades, researchers have linked PFAS chemical exposure to cancer, thyroid disease, and a huge list of reproductive issues such as preeclampsia. The impacts are particularly pronounced for low-income people, who are found to be more likely to live close to PFAS contamination sites and therefore have higher concentrations of exposure to the poison. For too long, the chemicals industry has been able to take home trillions in profits from these chemicals while everyday people are living with lifelong health impacts of the toxic exposure. We thank our bill sponsors and our legislators for their championship to make this “forever chemical” into a “never” chemical.”
“Our calculation of $750 million dollars is likely a vast underestimate of the costs our state and municipalities are paying for decades of wanton use of PFAS, when you consider the new costs for water treatment, and the as-yet unknown costs for PFAS leaching from landfills, being released into the air from incinerators, and being spread as biosolids on farm fields. The full cost of this problem is astronomical, and it is vital that we stop the use of PFAS in products as quickly as possible,” said Paul Webster, Program Director of Clean and Healthy New York, and co-leader of the JustGreen Partnership. “The NYS legislature has the opportunity to pass a package of bills that will help reshape the market not only here, but nationally, and they have a shrinking window in which to do so. We urge the Senate and Assembly to take rapid action now.”
“In Rockland County, nearly every one of our water sources is contaminated with PFAS. The extremely high costs of cleanup will fall on ratepayers. As with lead and asbestos, the answer is to shut the spigot, to turn off the ongoing contamination with these highly toxic chemicals. We want to thank our state legislators, AM Ken Zebrowski and Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, for their leadership on this issue,” said Peggy Kurtz of the Rockland Water Coalition.
"PFAS has contaminated the drinking water of millions of Americans across the country, including the contamination of New York public water systems that serve over 1.8 million people," said Richard Schrader, NY Legislative and Policy Director for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "It’s time for New York to take the next step to eliminate unnecessary uses of PFAS. For example, Assemblymember Zebrowski's bill that would phase out unnecessary PFAS in outdoor apparel and textiles, water and stain resistance treatments for fabrics, rugs, cookware, ski wax, paint, and cleaning products."
New York State has already enacted nation-leading policy to address PFAS chemicals, including banning PFAS in fire fighting foam, which contributed significantly to drinking water supply contamination across the state, and food serviceware, which often was billed as “compostable” and can contaminate crop production. The state is currently assessing drinking water standards for some PFAS chemicals.
Advocates noted the importance of addressing PFAS as a class. There are more than 10,000 known possible structures that would qualify as PFAS, and all indications are that they collectively pose health and environmental dangers. Until recently, PFAS manufacturers focused only on certain PFAS chemicals with eight carbons in their chains - PFOA and PFOS, while transitioning to other PFAS chemicals, just with fewer carbon atoms. Shoppers should be aware that seeing products marketed as “PFOA and PFOS-free” does not mean PFAS-free, and even some “green” clothing certifications only address a few specific PFAS chemicals. (See for example, recent testing: https://www.ehn.org/exposure-of-children-to-pfas-2657258296.html, https://www.ehn.org/pfas-chemicals-2656535588/what-we-ve-found)
Safer States has compiled known public costs for PFAS cleanup across the US, which they have made available here: https://nonsticknightmare.org/nightmare-costs/. Recognizing that this is only a partial accounting, the current national total stands at $2,624,476,968.
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