Federal Water Tap, September 30: Court Orders EPA to Address Fluoride Risk in Drinking Water

The Rundown

• Federal judge rules that the EPA needs to reassess fluoride in drinking water.
• After another cyberattack against a small water system, federal cybersecurity agency warns utilities to be vigilant.
• White House approves major disaster declarations for Florida and North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
• CDC and local partners use wastewater testing to track the H5N1 bird flu outbreak.
• EPA finalizes a rule to prevent spread of aquatic pests in ship ballast water.
• USFS begins analyzing safety upgrades at a lake altered by the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.
• USFS also begins assessment of a Sierra Nevada forest restoration project to improve watershed resilience to wildfire.
• GAO finds water systems wanting more guidance on disposing PFAS-contaminated waste from the treatment process.

And lastly, the secretary of state addresses the territorial consequences of rising seas.

“The United States is also updating our policies to reflect our changing planet. Our position is that sea-level rise should not diminish a country’s maritime zones, including the fishing grounds and resources under a nation’s jurisdiction. And no country should lose its statehood or membership in the United Nations or other international organizations because of sea-level rise.” – Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, speaking at the UN Headquarters, in New York, on September 25.

By the Numbers

$49 Million: Funding now available from the EPA to help small and disadvantaged communities manage their wastewater systems and access federal resources. Tribal communities and those relying on septic systems are also eligible. Applications for the technical assistance grants are due November 25.

77: Percent of water systems with PFAS contamination in six states that do not have treatment technology fully in place, according to a GAO report. Water systems in the survey indicated they want more guidance on disposing PFAS waste.

News Briefs

Fluoride Ruling
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do more to lower the health risk from fluoride in drinking water, the AP reports.

Fluoridated water prevents tooth decay and has been lauded as a public health victory, but at levels higher than the current federal standard it has been linked to impaired brain development in children.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen did not give the EPA direction on its course of action, and a spokesperson told the AP that the agency is reviewing the decision.

Cyberattacks against Utilities Continue
The federal government’s cybersecurity agency warned water and wastewater utilities that hackers continue to use “unsophisticated methods” to access internet-connected components of utility IT systems and cause damage to them.

Just last week Arkansas City, Kansas, alerted the public that its water treatment plant was the subject of a cyberattack. The attack did not interfere with water delivery, the city manager said.

In context: Cheap Cybersecurity Defenses Exist, But They’re Not Reaching Water Utilities Who Need Them

Water Bills in Congress
Representatives introduced bills on tribal water rights and water supply in the Dakotas. The House meanwhile, passed a bill on pipeline safety research.

• The Water Project Navigators Act would establish a program to help western states, tribes, and local governments plan water projects and apply for federal funding.
• The House, with bipartisan support, passed the Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act. It authorizes $245 million over five years for pilot projects that would, among other things, reduce environmental impacts of pipelines.
• Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced a bill to authorize an Interior Department study of using the Missouri River as a municipal and industrial water supply for western South Dakota.
• New Mexico Democrats introduced a bill to settle the Navajo Nation’s water rights in the Rio San José watershed.
• North Dakota senators introduced a bill to increase authorized funding for water supply projects in their state from the Missouri River.

EPA Finalizes Ballast Water Rule
To protect lakes and waterways against the spread of aquatic pests, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established new rules for the water that ships carry to balance their loads.

The final rule, which applies to about 82,000 commercial and fishing vessels, requires a management plan to reduce the risk of carrying non-native species in ballast water.

The final rule does not prohibit ships from loading ballast water in specific areas with poor water quality – sites with harmful algal blooms, those near sewage outfalls, or dredging sites. The EPA deemed such a rule was deemed too difficult to enforce. The agency expects individual ballast management plans to deter ships from doing so.

Green groups in the Great Lakes called foul on certain aspects, pointing out that the rules largely exempt existing “lakers” due to high costs of retrofits. Lakers are boats that do not leave the Great Lakes. These vessels can also spread non-native species within the region. New lakers must install a ballast water management system, but they will not have numeric water quality standards.

Studies and Reports

Wastewater Testing for Bird Flu
The CDC and local partners are testing wastewater to track the spread of the H5N1 bird flu.

Across nine weeks earlier this year, testing sites nationwide looked for influenza A and the H5 subtype. H5 was detected in wastewater samples at 24 sites in nine states. Follow-up investigations by health departments identified potential sources.

Wastewater testing gained prominence during the coronavirus pandemic as a form of early-warning system for infection hot spots.

Spirit Lake Safety Improvements
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens, in 1980, blocked the natural outflow of Spirit Lake, located just north of the blast zone. Since then a tunnel, now aging, has drained the lake.

The U.S. Forest Service announced it will analyze the environmental impacts of six options – a mix of tunnel repairs and new construction – to reduce the risk of flooding and mudslides for as many as 50,000 people downstream.

Public comments are being accepted through November 14. Submit them here.

Sierra Nevada Forest Restoration
The U.S. Forest Service is also laying the groundwork for a wildfire resilience project in Eldorado National Forest, in northern California.

The agency will assess the environmental impacts from the proposed Mokelumne Amador Calaveras Forest Resilience Project, a large-scale endeavor that includes prescribed burns, forest thinning, and stream restoration for over 246,000 acres.

In the western states, national forests cover just 19 percent of the land but provide 46 percent of the water supply, which can be wrecked by a large fire.

Public comments are due October 28. Submit them here.

In context: In New Mexico, Partners Collaborate to End Siege from Megafires

On the Radar

White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council Meeting
The council will hold a public meeting on October 9.

The meeting will be held in Huntsville, Alabama, and streamed online. Register here.

EPA Environmental Financial Advisory Board Meeting
The board will hold a public meeting on October 15-16, in Tempe, Arizona. The meeting will also be webcast.

An agenda has not yet been posted, but the meeting will center on infrastructure investment and advice to the EPA on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion grant program for reducing plant-warning emissions.

Register here.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton