PFAS found in Texico wells
May 8—SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department has informed the village of Texico it has identified the forever chemicals of PFAS in one of its water system wells.
According to an April letter from the NMED's Drinking Water Bureau, drinking water in the system was sampled Dec. 16 and Feb. 9, and sample results came back for 28 unique PFAS compounds.
There is no enforceable drinking water standard for PFAS in New Mexico. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a Lifetime Health Advisory for two PFAS compounds, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorosulfonic acid (PFOS), of 70 parts per trillion individually or combined.
Three wells received testing — the Meeks Pivot Well, Well No. 2 (tower well) and Well No. 4 (KKR well), with all three tested Feb. 9 and the last two also tested Dec. 16.
Well No. 2 was identified with presence between 28.7 and 32.4 parts per trillion. The Meeks Pivot well came back negative on its only test, and Well No. 4 came back negative on both tests.
The letter does not reference any potential sources of the contamination.
Because of the absence of federal or state regulations, followup actions are at the discretion of individual water systems.
A message regarding the testing results was sent Thursday by The News to Village Clerk Carolyn Johnson. Those questions were referred to the village's water supervisor, but The News did not receive a response by press time.
