March 28, 2024 3:14 PM
Search

All Remaining City of Prescott Wells have been Sampled

Results Expected in 6-8 Weeks

On Wednesday, July 20, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) sampled all remaining wells in the City of Prescott water supply system for PFAS, a group of commonly used chemicals often found in non-stick cooking surfaces, cosmetics, stain-resistant carpet, water-repellent garments, and firefighting foam..  The wells that were recently sampled are all located in Chino Valley.  Results are expected in six to eight weeks.   

The Mayor, City Manager and Public Works staff held an initial meeting with ADEQ Liaison Morgan O’Connor to discuss priorities and next steps.   City staff will meet with the full ADEQ team again in early August, and will continue to meet with them as needed.  ADEQ is providing guidance as the City begins to plan for PFAS remediation.

Following the initial meeting with ADEQ, Mayor Goode said: “The quality and safety of our drinking water is of the utmost importance to me and our entire City leadership and staff.   We will continue to work with the ADEQ and engineering firms to identify and implement a program to remove the chemicals from City water as quickly and effectively as possible.”

On July 8, the City of Prescott learned that recent test results found the presence of two types of PFAS chemicals called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in two of three water production wells located in the airport area.   While PFOA and PFOS are not currently regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nor ADEQ, there is emerging research evidence to support the possibility that these chemicals may be harmful to human health.     

The testing of the airport wells was part of a state-wide ADEQ testing of over 236 sites, primarily near airports and other areas where firefighting training took place. This is because the firefighting foam used in petrochemical fires such as those that may occur due to aircraft accidents, while highly effective at protecting lives and property, does contain these chemicals.   ADEQ informed the City that 51 wells around the state showed levels higher than the recommended Health Advisory Level (HAL), including two of three City airport wells. 

The City has a web page dedicated to this matter, including a link to the Town Hall video, past press releases and links to resources from ADEQ, EPA and other sources.

https://www.prescott-az.gov/water-sewer/pfas-and-pfos-resource-center/

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

2 Responses

  1. Too much talk about the “fear factor.” Crossing your neighborhood street can cause death or sever injury. CO2 allegedly causes global warming. Did you know if a 10,000 seat arena represented our atmosphere; only 4 seats would be CO2? The government is measuring air and water in parts per “billion”. You can take in more arsenic by eating broccoli than drinking a quart of water. Research yourself being careful to check many sources. Much material on line and anywhere is not true research but rather someone’s or some organizations “opinion”.

    1. Mr. Steele. You have been mentioning the Co2 being a small portion of our overall atmosphere in comments foe a while. Your logic is flawed, please let me explain. If I put sodium cyanide in your morning coffee, it would be so small you would not be able to see it, and it would be less than 1 millionth of your body weight. Yet, it would kill you in a few minutes. So, being a small part of something does not in and of itself mean it has no value. The main reason such a small concentration of Co2 has such a large effect is because the Co2 ends up in much higher concentrations at the top of the troposphere. In that position it prevents heat from freely escaping into space. You also recently mentioned that the earth has only warmed 1 degree Fahrenheit in the 20th century. On human terms that is inconsequential, but on Earth’s terms that is warming too fast. The Earth’s temperature constantly fluctuates, but slowly over time.
      I am neither a global warming denier nor proponent. Looking at the data, the earth is warming, it is effecting crops, causing refugee migrations as deserts continue to grow, and is affecting our water supplies here in the U.S. southwest. I have been a proponent of win win solutions to this situation, we can not stop the current global conditions, but we can slow the growth until green solutions make sense for most people. Solutions that would cause more suffering and poverty make no sense, the world needs to continue finding ways to develop green solutions, bring them to scale, make them affordable and people will run to them.

Related Articles