Sugarloaf Ground Water Information

Updated: August 16 2022

BACKGROUND

PFAS are a group of synthetic (human-made) chemicals that have been manufactured by and used in a wide variety of industries worldwide.

There are thousands of PFAS used in food packaging, water-repellant clothing, furniture, carpets, nonstick cookware coatings, fire-extinguishing foams, electronics, dental floss, shampoos and cosmetics. During manufacture and daily use, they can be released into the air; they can also leach into ocean water and become aerosolized. From there, they spread through the atmosphere and fall back to earth in rain.

Prior to 2016, EPA recommended that levels of the two most common compounds, PFOA and PFOS, be kept below 70 ppt (parts per trillion). They had not, however, translated this advisory level into a regulatory standard.

In June, 2022, EPA significantly tightened its guidelines for how much PFOA/PFOS can safely be present in drinking water. The new health advisory levels are so low that they cannot be measured by current analytical methods.

The level is literally unmeasurable because currently available testing technology can only measure as low as 2 ppt (parts per trillion), vs. the newly recommended guidelines of 4 to 40 ppq (parts per quadrillion).

EPA hopes to propose National Drinking Water Standards for these chemicals sometime in the fall of 2022. As discussed below, the new EPA limits mean that rainwater is no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth

UBIQUITY AND PERSISTENCE OF PFAS

Researchers at the University of Stockholm recently stated that “Rainwater is no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth” according to the new EPA limits:

“. . . rainwater everywhere would be judged unsafe to drink [based on the new EPA guidelines]. Although we in the industrial world don’t often drink rainwater [directly] many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink, and it supplies many drinking water sources.”

Because PFAS are so ubiquitous, persist for so long, and cycle through the planet’s oceans, atmosphere and soil so effectively, levels will probably continue to remain high. The only mitigation measures known at present are to reduce or eliminate the manufacture and use of these chemicals; to strictly regulate their handling when use is required; and, where feasible, to treat individual drinking water sources through filtration or other means.

HEALTH EFFECTS OF PFAS

While cause-and-effect relationships have yet to be proven between PFAS and adverse health effects, there is enough correlation to recommend reducing human exposure where possible.

According to EPA, epidemiological studies of exposure to PFAS and adverse health outcomes in humans are currently inconclusive, and a link to health problems has not yet been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research into the health effects of PFAS on humans is ongoing.

CURRENT REGULATIONS ON USE OF PFAS

Manufacturing of firefighting foam containing PFAS (so-called “Class B” foams) ended in the early 2000s, but much of it produced earlier still remains stored and used nationwide because the Federal government has not yet barred its use, and because for certain types of fires (e.g., large liquid fuel-based fires at facilities such as airports, military installations, and gasoline storage facilities), it is still standard practice.

SLFPD’S INVOLVEMENT IN THIS ISSUE

SLFPD experimented briefly, primarily for firefighter training, with Class B foams for a brief period in the 1990s. This was standard practice at the time for many Colorado fire departments. During this period, these foams were legal for sale, purchase, and use; and the District followed the manufacturers’ recommendations for their use and disposal.

Since discontinuing the use of these foams in 1998, many years prior to their being banned by the State of Colorado in 2019, we have not kept any of this material onsite, thus eliminating the potential for any inadvertent use or accidental release.

In 2017/2018, the District drilled new wells to provide domestic/potable water at our two oldest fire stations. When Fire Department personnel sampled the water in 2018 as part of starting up these wells, they elected to test for the presence of PFAS, along with the usual tests for coliform bacteria, heavy metals, etc. typically found in well water in former mining regions such as the Sugar Loaf community. They detected low levels of PFAS in well water at both fire stations.

We subsequently worked with the State of Colorado, the Boulder County Health Department, and the EPA to test more than sixty residential wells in the vicinity of the fire stations. Some residential wells contained detectable concentrations of one or more PFAS, although only a very few showed levels higher than EPA’s then-recommended advisory threshold.

PFAS IN BOULDER COUNTY

The extent of PFAS in Boulder County groundwater is unknown. Two local Fire Protection Districts (Sugar Loaf and Boulder Mountain Fire) that we know of have tested local wells and found levels in some wells exceeding EPA’s health advisory limits, most likely due to historical use of PFAS-containing firefighting foams, as described above. If other testing has been conducted, the results of such testing may not have been reported (there are currently no requirements to do so) and are not yet public knowledge.

To develop additional information, the Boulder County Health Department is working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to conduct additional private well water testing in the County. They have identified eleven specific areas in Boulder County where they would like to do so (note: none of these areas include the Sugar Loaf community). Free well testing is available to homeowners with private wells in these eleven designated areas. Please see www.bouldercounty.gov/environment/water for this map and for additional information relative to Boulder County. Another good resource for statewide information is www.cdphe.colorado.gov. And the EPA’s own website www.epa.gov provides information relative to their management of the PFAS problem on a national scale, especially with regard to their anticipated establishment of Drinking Water Standards for these contaminants.

If you do not live within one of the eleven designated Boulder County study areas on the map and are interested in having your private well tested for PFAS, there are commercial laboratories who can provide it. The County Health Department can assist you in locating an appropriate private contractor.

In the near future, there will be additional opportunities for State-funded testing under Colorado Senate Bill 20-218. This bill provides for a grant program, currently under development, that will allow homeowners to apply directly to the State for financial assistance with sampling and testing. Details will be available on the CDPHE website when the program has been finalized.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MY PRIVATE WELL?

If you have previously had your well water tested for the presence of PFAS and they were detected at levels below EPA’s health guidelines, all measurable levels of PFAS now exceed the new EPA guidelines. In fact, because the limits of detection are currently so low that they cannot measure these compounds at the 4 to 40 ppq level, even water tested and found to contain “undetectable” levels of PFAS may, in fact, contain levels that exceed the new EPA guidelines (see above discussion on rainwater).

Fortunately, technology exists — in the form of various water filters — that does an excellent job of removing PFAS from water. The EPA recommends that anyone with PFAS in their drinking water take steps to reduce their exposure to PFAS by installing a whole-house or point-of-use water filter. Many Sugar Loaf residents already use such filters to minimize or eliminate contaminants typically found in mountain well water, particularly in a region such as Sugar Loaf that was at one time heavily mined, and which featured milling and other ore-processing operations. Our Fire Department has installed filters on its own facilities at two of its three fire stations, and has found them to be both effective and easy to maintain.

Water quality in private wells in Colorado is unregulated, so its testing and treatment are the responsibilities of the homeowner. This means that even when the EPA establishes its new “Drinking Water Standards,” which could be as early as this fall, they will only apply to public water suppliers (municipalities, etc.); but they will obviously provide a framework within which homeowners can evaluate their own needs and goals.

We will continue to pass along new information, especially regarding State and County programs relative to PFAS issues, as it becomes available.