In spite of promised action from a powerful soybean processor, Salisbury, MD finds that that PFAS contamination of its drinking water is only getting worse.  New Lede.

Lead Pipe Replacement

At this point, no state has gotten rid of all of its toxic lead service lines which pipe drinking water to homes and businesses. But some cities like Chicago, New York City, and Detroit have more lead plumbing than others, and replacing it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Biden-era infrastructure law, promised $15 billion for lead pipe replacements across the country to be disbursed over five years. But in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency sent earlier this week, a group of Illinois congressional delegates allege that $3 billion appropriated for lead pipe replacements nationwide for the fiscal year that ended in September has not reached communities yet. They warn that the delay is a “dangerous politicization” that puts children and families at risk. Grist.

 

Water Infrastructure Finance

EPA’s water-infrastructure financing program has moved at a sluggish pace since President Donald Trump took office, approving only three loans so far this year, compared with 18 in 2024 and 24 in 2023.Water utility trade groups sounded the alarm about the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program’s slowdown in a letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin late last month, asking that EPA resume “the previous pace” of loan closings. There are 38 pending water and wastewater projects that have applied for loans, according to the program webpage. E&E News.

 

River Dolphins Dying of Rising Water Temperatures

More than 200 river dolphins died in Brazil’s Lake Tefé in the fall of 2023, with water temperatures soaring as high as 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a new study. Surface water temperatures in the region have increased by an average of around 1 degree Fahrenheit every decade since 1990, the researchers find. “The climate emergency is here, there is no doubt about it,” Fleischmann tells the Agence France-Presse.More broadly, the findings highlight the need to investigate how global warming is affecting historically overlooked tropical regions. The researchers call for long-term monitoring of the Amazon’s lakes and climate solutions that involve the region’s inhabitants.“Climate models project increasing air and sea surface temperatures across the globe, yet the impact of climate change on tropical fresh waters remains largely unknown,” the researchers write.  Smithsonian

 

NIH Studies the Effectiveness of Countertop Filters against Waterborne Diseases

A team led by Virginia Tech’s Alasdair Cohen is launching the first major U.S. study to test whether simple countertop water filters can reduce illness in households that rely on private wells and springs for drinking water.The study, supported by a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, includes faculty members from four universities and will focus on rural Appalachia in Southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee. Findings from Cohen and colleagues’ prior studies indicate that lower-income families in that region face higher risks of waterborne diseases because of contaminated private water sources that are not monitored and regulated like public water systems.  Virginia Tech News.

 

Drought is quietly pushing American cities toward a fiscal cliff

Drought, hurricanes, floods and fires are bankrupting cities across America. After flames ripped through Paradise, California in 2018, the town’s redevelopment agency defaulted on some of its obligations. Naples, Florida resorted to selling $11 million in bond to rebuild its pier after Hurricane Ian in 2022. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had a harder time raising money after massive fires swept the city. Kerr County, Texas is in the midst of raising taxes after devastating floods in July. And the city of Clyde in north Texas missed two debt payments last year during a prolonged dry spell.  Full article in Grist.

 

PFAS Manufacturing Status Questioned

 

A leading environmental group has challenged the EPA’s assertion as totally false and misleading that a hazardous PFAS product is no longer being made or imported,  New Lede.

Since getting confirmed by the United States Senate on January 29, 2025, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has now traveled to all fifty states across the country to hear directly from the American people about the challenges facing their communities and to better inform policy decisions to be made at EPA. Throughout his travels, Administrator Zeldin shared one goal with everyone he met, and that is to fix everything. (EPA Press Release.)

Pitt researchers reveal hidden impacts of drinking-water treatment on urban streams

 

Popping Water Mains

As infrastructure ages, crippling water main breaks are becoming more frequent and more difficult to fix.  Xylem

 

Forever Chemicals used with pesticides

The Guardian has revealed the alarming news that PFAS “forever chemicals” are applied in generous amounts in the form of pesticides on staple crops in some areas. The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California department of pesticide regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group non-profit put together the report.

The risk for uptake of PFAS is likely higher in water-rich fruits and vegetables, because water attracts the chemicals, and research has shown PFAS may concentrate at dangerous levels in some produce. The chemicals also pollute water supplies and present a higher risk to the often low-income and Latino farm workers. The Guardian.

More Coastal Flooding Due to Rising Sea Levels

More than 5,500 toxic sites nationwide could face coastal flooding by 2100 due to rising sea levels, according to new research.

The study, published in Nature Communications and led by scientists at the University of California, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising seas will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities including those handling sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, as well as other industrial pollutants. The Guardian

 

“The Kidneys of the Landscape” 

In what could be a move that is devastating for water quality in the United States, Lee Zeldin, current head of the EPA, has proposed a redefining of “waters of the United States” to exclude wetlands. Here’s a good article that explains the problem on the Pure Water Gazette website.