State environmental leader asks Congress to intervene on PFAS contamination
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The state’s top environmental watchdog says the federal government has failed to do enough to clean up dangerous perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination and they’re asking lawmakers to intervene. There’s well-documented PFAS contamination near Hollomon Air Force base among other locations, which only the Department of Defense has the authority to clean up.
The State’s Environment Department Secretary says those federal laws are hurting the state. The state’s top environmental watchdog says the federal government has failed to do enough to clean up dangerous PFAS contamination and they’re asking lawmakers to intervene. “They’re moving through our economy and then ultimately into our environment,” said James Kenney, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Environment Department.
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In front of a Senate committee Wednesday, New Mexico’s Environment Secretary described dangerous contamination from chemicals called PFAS, and the need for updated federal laws regulating their clean-up. “They bio-accumulate in our bodies, they bio-accumulate in our wildlife, and they move through our land and water at a significant cost to re-mediate,” said Sec. James Kenney.
The state says Cannon and Holloman Air Force bases are large sources of PFAS contamination, but today only the DOD can clean up their mess, something Kenney says isn’t happening. The secretary told lawmakers about the 2018 euthanasia of more than 3,000 PFAS-contaminated cows in Curry County. “New Mexico has paid $850,000 to help a dairy farmer dispose of his euthanized cows for PFAS poisoning as RCRA hazardous wastes,” said Sec. Kenney.
A recent University of New Mexico study also found high levels of PFAS contamination in ducks near Hollomon Air Force Base. Kenney says Congress needs to act, demanding PFAS be listed as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, something that would let the state act faster. He also wants to see the EPA takeover on PFAS clean-up.
“These forever chemicals are a pervasive threat in the instance to our health and our livelihoods and we need to make sure we’re acting to protect our communities and the people who live in them,” said Sen. Tom Carper, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Secretary Kenney also accused the Department of Defense of spending more effort on defending PFAS-related lawsuits as opposed to clean-up, saying the state’s now spent around $8 million in a five-year legal battle with DOD. Secretary Kenney was just one of five people to speak before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday morning.
