MONTGOMERY-Governor Bentley on Thursday announced no water systems in Alabama are currently affected by the Environmental Protection Agency final health advisory. The plan the Governor announced earlier this month, which involved purchasing water from Decatur Utilities and blending it with the West Morgan-East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority (WMELWSA) was successful.
“Safe drinking water is vital for all Alabama residents and I appreciate the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Alabama Department of Public Health for their continued effort to conduct a sampling of the blended water to alleviate any concerns surrounding the safety of the water in north Alabama,” Governor Bentley said. “I am happy to see a resolution to the water concerns that have plagued this community.”
On June 10, 2016, the WMELWSA enacted a plan to help mitigate water concerns resulting from the EPA final health advisory issued in May for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The plan involved purchasing water from Decatur Utilities and blending it with WMELWSA drinking water in quantities anticipated to reduce the PFOS and PFOA concentrations.
Sampling conducted by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) of the blended water on June 13, 2016, confirms the plan has been successful. The results show that both PFOS and PFOA in the blended water, which is being supplied to customers, were below the detectable limits at sites within the WMELWSA system. Based upon the Alabama Department of Public Health’s (ADPH) review of the sampling results, WMELWSA, as well as the West Lawrence Co-op which purchases water from WMELWSA, are no longer affected by the EPA final health advisory.
With this removal of these two systems, no water systems in Alabama are currently affected by the EPA final health advisory.
At this time, confirmation sampling for PFOA and PFOS within the WMELWSA will continue to be conducted every two weeks. Also of note is that current results from water collected at the WMELWSA water treatment plant prior to blending were found in the range of 25–37 parts per trillion, which is below the final health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion. Samples of this water will continue to be collected. As noted previously, the blended water, which is being supplied to customers, was below the detectable limits at sites within the WMELWSA system. All PFOA and PFOS data collected from the WMELWSA is available online in ADEM’s eFile system.
As additional monitoring data becomes available, ADEM will provide that information to ADPH for appropriate recommendations.
Any questions regarding monitoring should be directed to ADEM at (334) 271-7955, and questions regarding health-related matters should be directed to ADPH at (334) 206-5971.
Media Release/Office of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley
