By Rodd Cayton and Pat Davis — Some local water systems across the East Mountains have been found to be contaminated with “forever chemicals,” prompting state officials to invite local water managers to cooperate with developing programs for mitigation and monitoring.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – known as PFAS – were developed in the 1950s to make products waterproof and stain-resistant and eventually became used in firefighting and other industrial uses. Because they accumulate in the environment instead of breaking down, they have been dubbed “forever chemicals.”
Contamination had previously been found in water systems near military bases where PFAS foams were used in firefighting, but the chemicals were not thought to be widely prevalent elsewhere. Now, a new testing program funded by federal EPA grants and administered from the state’s Environment Department helped 523 New Mexico public water systems sample for PFAS and found 15 contained PFAS above federal standards.
Local systems managed by the Village of Tijeras, which serves 541 residents and Leisure Mountain Mobile Home Park along Route 66 between Tijeras and Zuzax serving 161 residents were found to have PFAS “exceedances” above Federal standards.
Mayor disputes test results
Tijeras Mayor Jake Bruton questioned the NMED’s testing methods. He told the Route 66 Independent department officials cut off discussion with him when he said the testing wasn’t done at the proper locations within the village.
Bruton also believes employees of the contractor who performed the test weren’t properly outfitted and wore perfume or lotion, in violation of testing rules.
“All the testing is null and void,” he said.
Bruton said he’s directed village staff to determine the best method of removing PFAS from Tijeras water, which the village will then implement, and to identify appropriate locations for future testing.
Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas, whose district includes the East Mountains area, said the numbers are concerning.
He said mitigation could be prohibitively expensive for small system managers. One way to try to tackle the problem, Olivas said, is for rural systems to work together on a regional basis, even as they maintain local autonomy.
“I’m really grateful that the legislature has put New Mexico in the driver’s seat in regards to setting our own rules,” he said.
Olivas added that the state will need to continue to assist water systems with both financial and organizational support.
“First and foremost, we’ve gotta stop the bleeding,” he said. “We’ve done that. Regulating new sources (of the compounds) is important. Mitigating what’s already there will be more difficult and more expensive.”
What about other local water systems?
Many of the areas with patterns of exceedances, like the local systems, are not near currently-known PFAS contamination — highlighting that PFAS is not solely tied to sources, such as the military, that NMED has been addressing in recent years, the department noted in announcing the results.
PFAS was also detected in systems serving the GCC Rio Grande plant on South 337 and the Forest Park Property Owners Coop on North 14, but levels did not exceed warning levels.
Several other private systems in the East Mountains were tested with negative results. Those were the Sierra Vista South Coop, Tierjas Water Coop, Sierra Vista Mutual Domestic Assoc., Tom & Jerry Plaza, Turquoise Trail Center Water System, Cedar Crest MDWC, Rincon Water Coop, Green Ridge MDWCA, Fox Hills Water Users Assoc., Sandia Knolls Water System, Old Sandia Park Service Co-op, Tranquillo Pines Water Users Coop, Vista Bonita Water Coop, Madrid Water and El Vadito De Los Cerrillos Water Assoc.
Readers can view system-specific results in the NMED’s online PFAS portal at https://www.env.nm.gov/pfas/
NMED says it is working on rules and programs to help local systems monitor and remediate PFAS and other contaminates in drinking water. New Mexico has 650 public water systems eligible for the program, representing about 62% of the 1,055 water systems throughout the state, according to NMED. Around 81% of New Mexicans are served by public water systems that draw from groundwater, and 170,000 New Mexicans depend on private groundwater wells for drinking water.