Recently released data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that several public water systems serving customers in Kentucky had levels of forever chemicals well above federal standards.
Forever chemicals or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are human-made substances that come from substances like Teflon, non-stick coating, some cosmetics, carpets and various industrial products. Some PFAS can take hundreds of years to break down naturally. .Exposure has been linked to increased cancer risks, developmental delays in children, hormone interference and other issues.
The EPA required all public water utilities to collect samples between 2023 and 2025 to be tested for dozens of chemical contaminants – including 29 types of PFAS. Two of those forever chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), have legally enforceable maximum levels of four parts per trillion that water systems currently have until 2029 to comply with – though the EPA has proposed pushing back the compliance date by two years.
According to an analysis by USA Today, 10 public water systems with Kentucky customers had average PFOA or PFOS levels that exceed the EPA’s limits.
The highest level of contamination was recorded at Fort Campbell Water System, which has a treatment center based in Tennessee but serves the nearby army base on the Kentucky-Tennessee line. On average, the water system’s PFOS levels measured 6.2 times over the federal limit. The Army base has faced lawsuits over PFAS water contamination at the installation.
Other utilities in Kentucky with average PFOA or PFOS levels exceeding the federal limit of four parts per trillion (ppt) for each chemical include:
- Corbin Utilities Commission, 4.1 ppt (PFOA)
- North McLean County Water District, 4.1 ppt (PFOA)
- Whitley County Water District, 4.5 ppt (PFOA)
- Southeast Daviess County Water District, 4.5 ppt (PFOA)
- Whitesville Water Works, 5.5 ppt (PFOA)
- Georgetown Municipal Water Service, 5.9 ppt (PFOS)
- Paducah Water Works, 6 ppt (PFOS)
- Harrison County Water Association, 15 ppt (PFOS)
- Cynthiana Municipal Water Works, 15 ppt (PFOS)
Lane Boldman is the executive director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, a legislative policy organization. She said PFAS can be in a variety of places in the home.
“It's really in places that people don't expect, and we need to get it phased out, because it is popping up in the waterways now in many, many states,” Boldman said.
According to EPA data, Paducah Water Works’ average sample from the testing period had one-and-a-half times the federal maximum allowable level of PFOS.
Jason Petersen is the general manager of Paducah Water Works. He said the system’s water is sourced from the Ohio River, and that employees test water at the source monthly because its treatment process doesn’t address PFAS currently. PWW has been testing PFAS levels since 2021, the utility leader said.
“There are months where we'll have the entire panel of PFAS constituents will be zero, but then other months, one constituent will be zero, and another will be six parts per trillion,” Petersen said. “So it is highly variable.”
While Petersen said he did not know the exact cause of these testing fluctuations, he said PFAS levels could be influenced by discharge from chemical manufacturing companies upstream of PWW’s source or from low seasonal river levels.
“We've done some pilot testing to establish its effectiveness and we're now looking in the near future to to move in the direction of what it does in addition to the treatment plant look like and start down that process,” Petersen said.
With the EPA not mandating compliance with its PFAS maximum contaminant levels until at least 2029, public utilities like Paducah’s that test above the federal standard have some time to implement measures aimed at reducing the amount of forever chemicals in their supplies.
After testing various methods of PFAS treatment, Petersen said the Paducah utility is planning to add Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) to its water treatment process. That filtration method uses small pieces of carbon, which need to be replaced periodically, to absorb PFAS. GAC is also expected to help address other issues Paducah Water Works occasionally experiences with water quality, such as changes in taste and odor, Petersen said.
Adding GAC will be a substantial capital project for Paducah Water Works, so Petersen said the company wants to make sure that meeting compliance requirements is part of what drives that effort.
“There will be a whole host of benefits, but we have to make sure that we know exactly what it's going to take for us to comply,” Petersen said.
In addition to its effort to push compliance enforcement back to 2031, the EPA has also sought to eliminate four other PFAS drinking water limits implemented under the Biden Administration – but a federal court has so far denied the agency’s requests to get rid of those rules.
Petersen said PWW has been moving cautiously toward where it expects federal regulations will head. However, the group is waiting for the final official rules to be issued before getting started on its GAC project.
“We're talking about spending many millions of dollars, and we want to be absolutely sure that that is, in fact, going to achieve regulatory compliance, but good stewards of our customers’ money as well,” Petersen said.
Boldman, from the Kentucky Conservation Committee, said for people who want to start being aware of PFAS in their own homes, a good step is to check labels.
“You need to be aware of what products can have these kind of chemicals,” Boldman said. “If it's something that's super water proof or stain resistant or non-stick, then you want to make some better choices on those kind of products, primarily.”
A lot of products with PFAS are being phased out, Boldman said, but if you have some you want to replace, speak with your local waste management system to see how they handle PFAS.
Boldman, from the Kentucky Conservation Committee, said there has been legislation filed in the Kentucky legislature for several years – including this session – to put together a PFAS working group to try and address the issue more locally. House Bill 196, sponsored by Louisville Democratic state Rep. Nima Kulkarni, was sent to the House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in mid-January and hasn’t moved since.
“It's been proposed several times, but it's not lost on lawmakers that this is an issue that needs to be addressed,” Boldman said. “It's almost like it's so large a potential problem that people just don't know where to start.”
