The United States Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the first-ever National Drinking Water Standard as part of its commitment to combat PFAS pollution, and South Carolina Department of Environmental Control discussed procedures to do its part.

On April 10, the Biden-Harris administration issued the first national, legally enforceable drinking water standard "to protect communities from exposure to harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances," also known as PFAS, the "forever chemicals."

EPA has set enforceable maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs, for six widely used PFAS chemicals: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX. A final MCL for PFOA and PFOS was set at 4.0 parts per trillion and at 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA and GenX. Mixtures containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS received a hazard index level of one with no measurable unit.

These standards aim to reduce the exposure to PFAS in drinking water - which is only responsible for 20% of most people's overall exposure to these compounds - to the lowest feasible level for effective implementation. The final rule will reduce PFAS exposure for about 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses, EPA stated.

Exposure to PFAS has been linked to deadly cancers, liver and heart impacts, and immune and developmental damage in infants and children, according to EPA. These long-term or chronic health issues assume a person drinks 2.5 liters of contaminated water every day of the year for 70 years. The other 80% of PFAS exposure comes from consumer products, such as clothing, food, cosmetics, food packaging, cookware, furniture and electronics, according to DHEC.

Media outlets across the state virtually met with DHEC on Wednesday, April 17, to discuss the inaugural drinking standard and the agency's statewide plans to help enforce the new state regulation and protect those affected.

"It's going to be a rough estimate, but we're thinking around 2 million people will be impacted," said Doug Kinard, director of Bureau of Water division of DHEC.

All surface water systems and groundwater systems in South Carolina that serve more than 10,000 people will be required to monitor PFAS compounds for four consecutive quarter. At the same time, groundwater systems that serve 10,000 or less will be sampled twice in a 12-month period. During the next three years, DHEC will adopt the drinking water standard, and each quarter, the most recent four quarterly samples will be averaged, and if the value exceeds the MCL, the water system will be in violation.

Once a water system violates the state regulation, it will enter into an enforcement agreement with DHEC with a schedule detailing when it will have to meet MCL requirements. If facilities do not meet the requirements in the given time frame, potential civil penalties will be enforced; "under most cases, there are not criminal penalties unless it's something that is intentional or negligent," Kinard explained.

Kinard estimated about 50-60 water systems will exceed the new MCL; there could also be more than one affected source for each system, he added. DHEC conducted a drinking water strategy investigation on and around Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter between January and March 2020 to determine the presence and concentrations of 14 PFAS compounds and whether PFOS and PFAS were present and measured at greater than 70 parts per trillion. Shaw is one of the Department of Defense sites where PFAS were known to be used for training with firefighting foam.

It was found that four of the 13 systems exceeded 70 ppt, three of which were mobile home parks and the fourth a business, DHEC reported.

"Before getting into the potential impact of PFAS rule in South Carolina, I will issue a word of caution in putting too much stock in the conclusions," Kinard said. "I admit the drinking water strategy is very limited in nature. It represents a single sample result from each water source - very much a snapshot in time."

Surface water systems are generally the largest water systems in South Carolina and serve most residents, Kinard said. PFAS levels can vary over time at the same location for a multitude of reasons, but based on the results from its surface water sampling, almost half if not more of the surface water treatment plants will need to take measures to reduce PFAS levels to comply with MCLs, he stated. Currently, the most common treatment techniques used to remove PFAS from drinking water are granular activated carbon, ion exchange and reverse osmosis. Ongoing research is being conducted on new technologies to remove these compounds from drinking water.

As for groundwater wells, somewhere between 30-50 sources will exceed PFAS MCLs, according to DHEC. These systems have the option to remove the affected wells from service or connect to another public water system that is not affected.

Most cities or towns will not be able to afford the equipment necessary to test PFAS and will likely rely on certified or commercial labs to conduct that monitoring, Kinard said. Funding will be available through EPA and Congress, but it is limited and likely less than what is needed to address the issue, Kinard expressed.

DHEC has encouraged South Carolinians to purchase water filters for drinking water and sinks to help reduce the exposure to PFAS. The manufacturers will have to begin the certification process to comply with new regulations. More information on how to reduce overall exposure - through drinking water and consumer products - can be found at epa.gov/saferchoice.

Health testing of individuals potentially affected by PFAS exposure and questions on the disposal of PFAS in firefighting foam were questions DHEC tabled for future media briefings. However, the agency did address funding for water treatment moving forward.

Alongside the new drinking water standard, EPA announced nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories implement PFAS testing and treatment for public water systems and address PFAS contamination for private well owners. This is part of a $9 billion investment to help communities affected by PFAS and other emerging contaminants - "the largest investment in tackling PFAS pollution," according to EPA. An additional $12 billion is available for general drinking water improvements, EPA added.

DHEC does not have a final estimate on how much it would cost to address the PFAS contamination; however, two of its largest surface water systems estimated spending between $150 million to $200 million each to come into compliance with the new MCL.