Are we dumping PFAS-laden water down our drains?

Is there a lawsuit coming with our name on it?

Data mitigate risk:

1  An industrial parts plater buys water from the local municipality.  The influent water comes in the front door, is used in the plating process, cleaned up and effluent is dumped down the drain; everything is compliant with the permits.  It’s a closed loop among the municipal Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) and industry.

 The POTW tests its water and finds PFAS at 10 ppt (parts per trillion) and pressure mounts to find the source.  So they start looking upstream to the discharge permit holders and take tests at the drains.  They test the plater’s effluent and find 10 ppt.  They have found a responsible party and the legal system rumbles to life.  What could happen now?  No one knows, but one can imagine. 

 But what if the plater had data to show that they weren’t the PFAS source?  What if they had exculpatory data to show that the water was already at 10 ppt when it came in the front door?   

2  A company processes green beans for a multinational food conglomerate.  They bring in truckloads of beans from the local farmers’ fields, wash, slice, package and load them on trucks for distribution.   Unknowingly, they use 10 ppt influent water to wash the beans, contaminating them before distribution to market – a public health catastrophe.  But data give the leadership team options:  Treat the water first?  Source cleaner water elsewhere?   

3 An automotive parts manufacturer tests their influent at 3 ppt and effluent at 10. Somehow their process is adding PFAS to the water. It’s better to know it early and modify the process or install a remediation system that restores the level to at or below 3 ppt – before a government agency tests and puts the results in the public domain.

4 A manufacturer imports coated components that go through the tunnel wash prior to final assembly. Is that affecting the quality of the effluent waste water that goes down the drain?

5 An M&A team is conducting its due diligence on a potential acquisition for the portfolio. It could be any of the above four enterprises, or any other high volume water user. What potential liabilities or risks will come with it?

6 A landfill owner caps off a closed site and keeps responsibility for perpetual care and maintenance. The collection system captures the leachate, but will PFAS contaminants affect disposal options? Or worse, the liner fails, bypassing the collection system altogether: what is going into the ground water?

7 A corporate real estate team is scouting out new facilities for the company’s expansion. Will the infrastructure present unforeseen risks? What is the quality of the water coming in and going out?