We need clean, safe drinking water in Fairbanks
We need clean, safe drinking water in Fairbanks | Community Perspectives | newsminer.com
Authors: Pamela K. Miller, Brittani Robbins and Patrice Lee
Residents of Fairbanks are rightfully concerned about PFAS contamination in our drinking water. PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are contaminating our public water supply according to data from the Golden Heart/College Utilities 2025 Water Quality Report.
There is no safe level of exposure to PFAS as concluded in a 2024 scientific assessment by EPA. Exposures to these chemicals at exceptionally low levels are associated with adverse health effects including infertility, preeclampsia, low infant birth weight, thyroid disease, Type II diabetes, neurocognitive impairment in children (decreased IQ), immune system suppression, and certain cancers including kidney and testicular cancers. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a class of more than 15,000 widely used toxic chemicals that persist in the human body and the environment.
The primary source of water contamination in Alaska is the dispersive use of PFAS-based fighting foams used on airports and military bases for training, as well as fuel and chemical fires. Currently, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) lists more than five hundred sites in our state where PFAS contamination has been identified in soil and water.
Fairbanks has significant source areas of PFAS including the military bases, Regional Fire Training Center, and Fairbanks International Airport, which contaminate both private wells and the public water supply.
In 2024, the Alaska State Legislature passed a bill (Senate Bill 67) that phased out the use of PFAS-based firefighting foams. This is an important step in stemming the contamination problem. Fortunately, there are many effective and economic alternatives. Replacing PFAS-based fire-fighting foams with safe alternatives is a step in the right direction. However, we currently have no health protective or enforceable drinking water standards. The ADEC continues to use outdated non-enforceable guidelines that greatly exceed safe levels.
In April 2024, the EPA set first-ever national drinking water standards for PFAS, confirming that these chemicals are toxic at extremely low levels. The rule established drinking water limits for six PFAS chemicals: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX. However, the EPA under the current administration announced in May of this year that it would revoke or delay these limits, perpetuating harm to the safety of drinking water and our health.
The Golden Heart/College Utilities 2025 Water Quality Report shows that levels of at least one PFAS (PFOA) exceed the scientifically based and health-protective standards established in 2024 by EPA. Other PFAS chemicals known to be associated with adverse health effects are also detected, raising concerns about cumulative effects. The report asserts that: “We are proud to report that there were no Safe Drinking Water Act violations identified during the inspection.” This is technically true because there are no enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS at the state or national level. This is a failure of our state and federal regulatory agencies to take necessary action. And it is not the fault of the utility that our water supply is contaminated — that blame goes to the manufacturers and formulators of PFAS. The manufacturers knew that PFAS were harmful for decades yet continued and greatly expanded production.
Other states are far more advanced than Alaska in regulating PFAS. Eleven states have enacted enforceable drinking water standards for certain PFAS in drinking water. Others have taken more comprehensive measures by eliminating PFAS in many household products, recognizing that as a class of chemicals, PFAS are too dangerous to use and therefore should be minimized as much as possible.
With reference to Andy Warwick’s letter to the editor (Sept. 10) that criticizes Mindy O’Neall for her assertion (Sept. 8, Community Perspective) that “our city water is polluted,” we believe and the utility data show that she is right in raising this concern.
People in Fairbanks have a right to clean, safe drinking water. According to an independent survey report conducted by Alaska Survey Research prepared for the Northern Compass Group, 76% of Fairbanks residents who were interviewed consider PFAS to be a moderate to major threat to health, with concerns about links with cancer, heart disease, stroke and harm to brain function and reproduction.
Please support legislation to establish health-protective and enforceable drinking water standards in the upcoming session. Our state legislators must take responsibility to enact these measures to protect the health of Alaskans.