In early 2018, EGLE’s Water Resources Division (WRD) developed the Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP) PFAS Initiative Study of 95 municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) to help identify and systematically reduce and eliminate sources of PFAS (PFOS/PFOA) entering wastewater collection systems.
During this study, some WWTPs were found to have elevated PFAS in their effluent and associated residuals (sludge/biosolids). Through this study, WRD identified 6 WWTPs with industrially impacted biosolids. WRD temporarily restricted their land application program until elevated sources of the PFOS were eliminated and residual PFOS concentrations were decreased.
Expanding upon the information collected during the IPP PFAS Initiative, in the fall of 2018, WRD launched a study to evaluate the presence of PFAS in Municipal Wastewater and Associated Residuals. Through this study, 42 municipal WWTPs were sampled to evaluate the presence of PFAS in influent, effluent, and residuals.
As part of this initiative, 29 land application sites (associated with 10 municipal WWTPs) were evaluated to further understand the potential impact land-applied biosolids has on the environment. AECOM Technical Services, Inc. (a consulting firm) was contracted by WRD to perform all the sampling in this study. All samples were analyzed for 24 PFAS compounds.