In February, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released its PFAS Blueprint, a coordinated approach developed by multiple agencies to protect public health and the environment from PFAS contamination. The blueprint includes ten priority areas centered on additional research, new health guidance, drinking water and food protections, and additional tools for cleanup and prevention. It also outlines immediate, short- and long-term strategies that stakeholders in the state should consider to prevent, manage, and clean up PFAS contamination.
Some of these actions (e.g., monitoring PFAS at national pollutant discharge elimination system permitted facilities and in groundwater at active landfills) can be developed within the next two years, while others (e.g., designating PFAS as hazardous substances, requiring companies to disclose information on contaminants, funding to identify sources, and banning PFAS in food packaging) will require more time for legislative action and public engagement.
Some of the short-term strategies are already in play, as MPCA in March addressed PFAS contamination in groundwater at 59 closed landfills in 41 counties. Groundwater at each of the sites exceeded the Minnesota Department of Health’s guidance values for PFAS, bringing total exceedances in groundwater to 98 of the 101 tested sites in MPCA’s closed landfill program.
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