Waste and recycling companies continue to invest in PFAS mitigation strategies as they navigate how newly enacted U.S. EPA regulations will impact operations. At the same time, legal challenges related to management of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances will continue to shape the regulatory landscape.
In July, companies including Crystal Clean, Montrose Environmental and Waste Connections invested in partnerships meant to help treat PFAS in landfill leachate and other liquids, while chemical company Chemours unsuccessfully challenged an EPA drinking water advisory. Here are some highlights from this month’s PFAS news.
Judge dismisses Chemours PFAS lawsuit
A federal appeals court on July 23 dismissed a lawsuit by chemical manufacturer Chemours against the U.S. EPA. Chemours had challenged the agency’s drinking water advisory for HFPO-DA, a type of PFAS sometimes referred to as GenX.
The EPA issued the drinking water advisory for the chemical in June 2022, which said it posed health risks in drinking water. In Chemours' challenge, the company said the advisory could lead to regulatory action from the state or from the EPA. Yet the EPA argued the advisory was nonbinding and therefore not legally enforceable.
In the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision released last week, Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman sided with the EPA, saying the advisory could not be challenged in court because “the health advisory is not a final agency action.” The advisory was meant to offer guidance while the EPA worked on issuing its final rule for PFAS in drinking water, which it then issued in April this year, she wrote in her decision.
Chemours said in a statement that was disappointed by the July 23 ruling. However, the company is part of a separate legal challenge to the the EPA's final PFAS drinking water rule, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The EPA's maximum contaminant limits for drinking water “utilize, in part, the same scientifically unsound analysis” as the HFPO health advisory, the company said in the statement.
The Natural Resources Defense Council applauded the decision, calling it a “win for public health.” The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Waste Connections partners with Montrose on PFAS remediation at Missouri landfill
Environmental services company Montrose Environmental Group has partnered with Waste Connections to treat PFAS-impacted landfill leachate at Waste Connections’ Champ Landfill in Missouri.
Montrose led the design and installation of the treatment equipment, which uses FOAM-X technology from Montrose subsidiary ECT2. The technology injects tiny bubbles of air into the liquid, attracting PFAS for removal, the company said. Another Montrose subsidiary, Enthalpy Analytical, provides Waste Connections with leachate sample analysis.
Waste Connections said it reached out to Montrose for help with PFAS management in advance of the EPA’s recent drinking water standards and hazardous substance designation for certain PFAS. Waste Connections has partnered with other companies for PFAS remediation services at other landfills it operates, such as Altra Sanexen in Minnesota.
It was also prompted to search for PFAS remediation options after the EPA released its Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 in January, which announced the agency would develop new effluent limitation guidelines and pretreatment standards meant to to reduce PFAS in landfill leachate, Waste Connections said in a news release.
“Our primary goal is to reduce our environmental footprint and this PFAS treatment facility is a commitment to that objective,” said Brittany Maloy, sustainability supervisor at Waste Connections’ Sustainability Campus, in a statement. Waste Connections says it will offer guided tours and educational programs at that campus in Missouri to explain the PFAS remediation process.
Crystal Clean completes its largest PFAS remediation project amid expansion plans
Crystal Clean, an Illinois-based provider of environmental and waste management services, has treated 1.46 million gallons of “PFAS-impacted” water in three weeks, which is its largest PFAS remediation project to date.
The process uses four surface active foam fractionation units, known as SAFF, which separate and concentrate PFAS from the water. Crystal Clean then transports the PFAS concentrate to its facility for further management before it is destroyed by a third party off site.
The SAFF units are manufactured and distributed by partners EPOC Enviro and Allonnia as part of the Crystal Clean’s 4never brand. The technology has helped remediate over 260 million gallons of PFAS-containing water at more than thirty sites around the world, said Peter Murphy, president of EPOC Enviro, in a statement.
Now that the U.S. EPA has designated certain PFAS as hazardous substances and has set drinking water limits for certain PFAS, “having a proven and environmentally friendly method of managing PFAS has never been more relevant,” he said in the statement.
Crystal Clean aims to ramp up its PFAS remediation capabilities by expanding its 4never services around the country. It currently operates a PFAS treatment facility in Michigan and plans to add SAFF technology to several of its U.S. based commercial wastewater treatment facilities, it said.
Correction: A previous version of this story erred in reporting on Chemours' next steps now that its lawsuit on the drinking water advisory for HFPO-DA has been dismissed. The company remains part of a separate legal challenge to the EPA’s PFAS drinking water rule.
