Forever chemicals lurking in every American waterway

In 2017 a Minnesota-based company with an operation in Brookings, South Dakota hoped to drive attention from its manufactured forever chemicals that cause cancers and spontaneous abortions and a $5 billion lawsuit.

The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are known as forever chemicals because the substances do not break down quickly and have in recent years been found in dangerous concentrations in drinking water, soils and foods across the country. 3M’s current annual net sales of manufactured PFAS are about $1.3bn. The company expects to incur related total pre-tax charges of about $1.3bn to $2.3bn over the course of its exit from PFAS. [3M sets 2025 deadline to stop making ‘forever chemicals’]

In 2020, the Trump Organization's Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the final pool of cash in the 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments aimed at buying off welfare farmers even as Trump continued his war on the poor. 

With drought taking hold in the upper basin we should be sending thoughts and prayers in advance for the wretched masses that have poisoned their own wells and tapped into big gubmint to water lawns while they complain about Waters of the United States or WOTUS.

-- PFAS in livestock is an "emerging concern as a source of dietary exposure to humans."

-- There have been relatively few investigations over PFAS in livestock.

-- The Natural Resources Conservation Service does not have any PFAS experts.

-- NRCS policy actually prohibits the agency in assisting with the removal of hazardous waste material.

-- Few studies have been done on safe PFAS concentration levels in soil.

-- APHIS does not have any authority since PFAS is not a disease pathogen.

-- The Department of Defense has taken a greater lead than USDA in providing details on contamination to agricultural producers near military installations. [PFAS Contamination and USDA's Lack of Engagement]

There are 679 military bases in the United States with known or suspected PFAS contamination and according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) the Department of Defense has not fully briefed farmers about the likely pollution of surface and groundwater near some 36 of 126 military bases with the highest parts per trillion of PFAS contamination.

Learn more at the Minnesota Reformer.