PFAS — they’re perfectly and fully awful.
They’re “forever chemicals” — chemicals that take as long as a human lifespan to break down and can cause cancer and other health disorders.
If you fish in a waterway with high levels of PFAS, ingesting the fish you catch can dose you with these chemicals. If your home well is exposed to high levels of PFAS, you can be exposed from your drinking water. If your farmers regularly water their crops with water containing high PFA levels, those crops become contaminated.
“There’s places all across the country now where ranchers and farmers are losing use of their land because it’s contaminated,” said Michael Mullen, the Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper.
He’s concerned about areas from around Fort Novosel in Claybank Creek, and especially in Brooking Mill Creek and Dilly Branch off Highway 134.
Some spills have come from the airfields on Fort Novosel where training occurs.
But more common an exposure: foams used to fight fires, which are tested at Fort Novosel.
Thankfully, the military will soon be rid of aqueous fire fighting foams containing PFAS, but that doesn’t save the many people exposed to them.
If the foam is deployed near an area with a natural creek, the foam can run off into the creek and cause high PFA levels.
But just like how tobacco companies told people smoking was good for health even though they knew the risks of regular smoking, companies creating firefighting foams and many other products have known about the health risks of continued exposure to PFAS.
Landfills also may release big amounts of harmful materials into nearby waterways.
These carbon to fluorine molecular bonds are not found in nature — so they’re much tougher to kick.
Environmental groups are testing surface water for PFA levels to submit data to the government and warn people who may be regularly exposed.
The effort began when the waterkeeper alliance requested waterkeeper groups take samples from local waterways to measure PFA levels across the country. Researchers began testing all across the nation, not just around Fort Novosel.
Mullen and Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper volunteer Tabitha Stalvey are part of that effort.
They invited RSN to join them testing a portion of a waterway near Dilly Branch Road in Daleville.
The walk to the water wasn’t long, but mosquitoes continually harassed our group, even though we’d doused ourselves in bug spray.
You can watch the video of the testing process below using a simple and relatively inexpensive test kit.
Stalvey simply filled up the testing cup and waited for most of the water to drip out, allowing the PFAS and sediment to catch in the filter. The test will be sent off and results will come in a couple of weeks on the levels of PFAS found in the sample.
Mullen and Stalvey had found high levels of PFAS in nearby waterways, and another test needed to be done upstream. In the previous two years, high PFA levels have been found in the Choctawhatchee River itself.
Their efforts could lead to fish tissue testing to make sure fish don’t have PFA levels too high for safe human consumption.
Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper plans to test nearby private water wells people use to supply water for their homes to make sure the wells aren’t contaminated.
The safe amount of PFAS in humans is ZERO, but humans as a species can’t get far enough away from it now: everyone carries some PFAS with them, as we’ve been so regularly exposed.
Some types of PFAS have been banned, but that’s led to industry and the Environmental Protection Agency playing “whack-a-mole” when it comes to figuring out what’s legal and safe and what isn’t.
Not only are cleanups incredibly expensive — but so are devices to regulate the amount of PFAS.
Urging governmental legislators to take action hasn’t been very successful.
“I don’t hold out much hope unless people make a lot of noise about the kidney cancers, the testicular cancers, the bowel syndrome issues and other things,” Mullen said.
Stalvey agreed.
“If there’s an admittance of a problem, that can lead to liability,” Stalvey said. “It’s a fine line to walk. If there are cancers down the line, that opens up even more.”
The issue metastasizes further, as the EPA may choose to roll back standards and may end up stopping research into PFAS.
“Residents across the entire Alabama Portion of the river basin who live near an active landfill or a closed landfill and have a private well that is utilized for drinking water, to water poultry, livestock, or vegetable gardens are encouraged to consider getting their water tested,” read a press release from Choctawhatchee Riverkeepers.
You can call or text 334-807-1365 to ask about getting waters tested.
Riverkeepers may reach out to homeowners within affected areas.
