Editor’s note: Part one of two. “Local researcher: PFAS-cancer link is reason to limit exposure” is slated for the May 27 Waverly Independent.
Last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency detected one of two legacy “forever chemicals” in a Waverly well at a level exceeding the federal limit set last year.
A newer chemical in the same family was found that also exceeded 2024 limits, but if the Trump EPA follows through on rumblings of a new federal rule, that limit may not be enforced.
Perfluorooctanoic acid – PFOA – was detected last in Waverly Well 7 at 6.3 parts per trillion; the federal limit is 4. Waverly also exceeded federal limits in a GenX PFAS chemical, PFHxS, at 15 ppt in the same well; the limit is 10.
“Talk of PFAs (has) been in the news lately,” Public Works Director Justin McGlaun told Waverly City Council Monday, May 19. “I just want to say, Waverly’s water is safe. We do take this very seriously, and the guidance from the DNR, we’re following. Since the first article came out, the EPA is announcing they’re reducing the contaminant list. We’re going to have two to monitor now (if/when the forthcoming rule passes), and they gave us a longer compliance period.”
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of chemicals now approaching 15,000 members. PFAS have been used for decades to make consumer products “nonstick” to resist oil, water and stains. They appear in cookware and paper food packaging, clothing, upholstery and carpets, firefighting foam used at airfields, and in industrial processes.
Studies have linked exposure to PFAS to low birth weight, accelerated puberty and skeletal variations; kidney and testicular cancer; liver damage; immunity, thyroid and cholesterol issues. They resist breakdown in water, light or the body, per the EPA.
The Biden administration set limits at 4 ppt for both PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid – PFOS – and set a 2029 deadline to comply.
PFOA has been largely phased out of U.S. production by the companies in the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. Small quantities of PFOA may be imported by companies not in the program, the EPA said, and some uses of PFOS are ongoing.
On the world stage these early PFAs were set to be phased out gradually through the U.N. Stockholm Convention of 2020, in products such as firefighting foams. The World Semiconductor Council said it phased out PFOA in etching ending in 2024 and started to sunset PFOS in 2017.
Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a May 14 release that the agency plans to keep the current limits at 4 ppt each for PFOA and PFOS but that drinking water systems will have two more years to comply – until 2031.
For the Trump EPA proposal to take effect, it will need to be published in the federal register and finalized, observed Corey McCoid, an Iowa Drinking Water supervisor who oversees water supply operation and PFAS coordination for the Department of Natural Resources.
“As of now, (...) we’ve only seen the press release,” McCoid said. “We anticipate meeting with EPA officials soon to gain further clarity.”
The Trump EPA is looking to rescind one part of the 2024 EPA rule on what are termed GenX PFAS chemicals – like the PFHxS found over the limit in the local water, and others – along with a “Hazard Index,” a mixture of these and a related chemical.
Zeldin said this was “to ensure that the determinations and any resulting drinking water regulation follow the legal process laid out in the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
Federal legal challenges
The Biden EPA 2024 PFAS rule is facing legal challenges. Water utility associations last summer challenged the 2024 PFAS rule in court, partly owing to use of the hazard index rather than the usual “maximum contaminant level” for PFAS mixtures and, they contend, the EPA underestimated nationwide costs of the rule.
Chemical industry groups also sued, alleging partly that the EPA exceeded its authority (American Chemistry Council petition) and used “unsound data” (petition by Chemours, maker of Teflon).
The EPA and states will continue to move forward with the implementation of the final PFAS rule unless the rule is stopped.
Waverly process
The minimum detect level for PFAS is 2 parts per trillion, according to Waverly Public Works Director Justin McGlaun. Waverly wells were tested for PFAS before the first federal rule emerged, he said, and at one point, one of the other wells was just over the minimum detect, “we are talking 2.4, 2.5,” he said. “That’s what caused us to do some more sampling.”
“Our testing protocols are very rigid,” McGlaun explained. “Obviously, (we) have got to wash hands, wear gloves. (We are) supposed to refrain from fast food packaging being around because of contamination concerns.”
McCoid said, “EPA came back last fall and sampled and discovered Waverly Well 7 was high in PFAS (PFOA).” (Editor's note: Online results, which may have been entered later, list the sample date as Jan. 22, 2025.)
The finding put Waverly on a quarterly PFOA monitoring plan, which is noted in their DNR Operation Permit.
If Waverly would test high for PFOA after four quarterly results, the DNR would then require public notification and treatment starting – for now in 2029 – or if the forthcoming rule, with its new compliance deadline, passes final publication, then 2031.
The U.S. outlawed PFOA in 2014, and in 2020, PFOA was banned in the European Union and nearly worldwide as part of the Stockholm Convention.
While consumer products and food are a large source of PFAS exposure for most people, EPA notes drinking water can be an additional source in the small percentage of communities where these chemicals have seeped into water supplies.
McGlaun said some of Waverly’s wells are highly susceptible to groundwater infiltration.
“Karst topography,” formed by soluble bedrock like limestone or dolomite, “can allow contaminants through the layers into the aquifers,” McGlaun said.
The karst process creates characteristic features like caves, sinkholes, springs and underground drainage systems.
McGlaun said McCoid called him right away to update him on the announcement of forthcoming federal rule changes.
“The DNR has been great to work with,” McGlaun said.
Next steps for Waverly
Wells 7 and 8 blend in the east water tower on Bremer Road, which serves the eastern, western and southern parts of town.
“Technically we already do (blend the two wells) now just not through a process that can guarantee proper mixing between the two wells,” McGlaun said.
It is theoretically possible that communities could reduce the percentage by which a contaminated well contributes to the water supply, McCoid explained, and increase the draw of another well to compensate. For example, a 25% contribution from Well 7 could be offset with a 75% contribution from Well 8.
But McGlaun said this would not work with Waverly’s system.
“Our system is not designed in a way that it would be feasible or cost effective to accomplish this,” McGlaun said.
Rather, if PFOA levels cannot be reduced in Well 7, “We would consider abandoning Well 7 and look for a location to drill a new well,” McGlaun said.
“We’ve recently upgraded one of our other wells to allow us to pump into either Zone A or B, depending where the demand is,” McGlaun said, which amounts to all Waverly residences.
As to whether Well 7 would have to be abandoned or capped, McGlaun was not 100% sure how it will work with PFAS. “I do know with other contaminants, you are allowed to retest the well and place (it) back into service if levels fall below limits.”
McCoid said drilling wells was an option because Iowa is a water-rich state. Bipartisan infrastructure funding is available to remediate PFAS through the state revolving fund.
“We currently have $12 million a year for communities that need to start planning for PFAS,” McCoid said.
Drilling for new wells was the main way McCoid has seen bipartisan infrastructure funding used to remediate PFAS issues in Iowa.
“I’ve seen that used to drill new wells; I haven’t seen that used for treatment yet,” he said.
DNR progress
This year, the Iowa DNR had 800 small systems to sample, for towns under 3,300 population with a goal for completion by the end of 2026.
Prior to the start of the year, the DNR and EPA had sampled about 300 water systems in towns over 3,300 population.
“We have now written about 400 water supply operation permits to sample for PFAS,” McCoid said.
According to an Iowa map, around 12 water supplies exceed the max contaminant level for PFAS so far.
“We’re still sampling,” McCoid said.