Investigating PFAS source in public drinking water

Responding to a regulatory agency request

Our client, a Fortune 500 corporation, contacted Ramboll in 2022 to help with a request from a regulatory authority.

The client has an active manufacturing facility in the USA, close to public drinking water supply wells where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels had recently been detected above the drinking water standard. The regulatory agency asked the client to assess if their current or historical operations may have contributed PFAS to the supply wells.

The client retained Ramboll to investigate if the facility could have contributed PFAS to the environment. They chose Ramboll for our demonstrated expertise with conducting PFAS investigations and excellent working relationships with the regulators on PFAS-related matters.

Continuing investigations

To assist with this investigation Ramboll first conducted a site visit to fully understand the facility’s manufacturing processes, which helped to confirm the primary environmental pathways applicable to the site (air emissions and stormwater). We then completed a thorough desktop review of all safety data sheets (SDS) available for materials used at the site. Despite finding no confirmation of regulated PFAS compounds being present in any materials currently used onsite, given that SDS historically did not list PFAS as a primary ingredient, Ramboll was not able to fully rule out the potential for PFAS releases to the environment via historical operations.

Ramboll subsequently completed a subsurface investigation at the facility which included the installation of monitoring wells to collect groundwater samples for laboratory analysis.

Based on the preliminary groundwater sampling results at the facility, with very low PFAS concentrations detected, the facility does not appear to be the source of PFAS to the public wells. However, stormwater and surficial soil sampling is still planned to evaluate impacts associated with historical air emissions.

A report will be prepared and submitted to the regulatory agency on the client’s behalf summarizing these findings.