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MiMfg Magazine
December 2017
What Does the Presence of Perfluorinated
Compounds in the Environment Mean for
Michigan’s Regulated Community?
By Todd Fracassi • Pepper Hamilton LLP and James Colmer • BB&E Inc.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) are a group of compounds that
were formulated to improve resistance
to stains, grease and water in a wide
variety of commercial and industrial
products. Common uses for PFAS
include firefighting aqueous film-forming
foam at oil and gas, chemical, Department
of Defense and municipal firefighting
facilities; plating operations as mist
suppressants; and uses in nonstick
cookware, food packaging, waterproof
clothing, fabric stain protectors, lubricants,
insecticides, cleaners, wire insulation,
paper and paints.
The widespread use of PFAS created
the public perception that they were
safe. However, with more information
on PFAS emerging, regulators,
consumers and the regulated community
are now understanding that these
contaminants are very persistent in the
environment, do not readily degrade
and have been found to be bioaccumu-
lative. With this, there is increased
regulatory scrutiny regarding the use of
and potential public health impacts
from PFAS.
In fact, to address this emerging
issue, Governor Rick Snyder signed
Executive Directive 2017-4 on 11/13/17
to establish the Michigan PFAS Action
Response Team (MPART). The MPART
will be led by retired Michigan Chief
Deputy Attorney General Carol Isaacs
and will include representatives from the
Michigan Departments of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), Health and Human
Services, Military and Veterans Affairs,
and Agriculture and Rural Development.
The MPART also will utilize David
Savitz of Brown University as its academic
consultant. The MPART will lead the
state’s efforts in developing protocols and
best practices to ensure PFAS sites across
Michigan are responded to in a compre-
hensive, cohesive and timely manner.
There is increased regulatory
scrutiny regarding the use of
and potential public health
impacts from per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Find out what this means for
Michigan manufacturers.
Impact
So what does the emergence of
PFAS as pollutants of concern mean for
Michigan’s regulated community?
• PFAS will likely be added as
contaminants of concern at more
sites. Since they were widely used, it
is likely that the DEQ and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) will require potentially
responsible parties to begin to sample
for the presence of PFAS. Increased
sampling likely means an increase in
PFAS sites. This may include sites
that previously received regulatory
closure or are the subject of an
administrative or judicial order that
typically includes a re-opener for
discovery of new conditions.
• Most of the PFAS focus has been
on two compounds, perfluorooctane
sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic
acid (PFOA). However, there are
approximately 30 PFAS substances
that qualified laboratories can evaluate.
Even if you have been investigating
PFOS or PFOA, regulators may
soon require additional sampling
for the broader range of PFAS.
• Since many publicly owned treatment
works do not have PFAS removal
technology, those whose operations
discharged wastewater containing
PFCs may receive requests to
investigate potential impacts from
PFAS that may have reached
receiving waters.
• As the EPA has only established
health advisory limits, it is likely that
states like Michigan will develop
their own criteria, which will likely
be lower than the health advisory
limits. Given events such as Flint