Drought Exposes ‘Canary in This Coal Mine’ of PFAS in Well Water

Drought is exposing new layers of risk posed by PFAS contamination in drinking water nationwide, a public health hazard expected to cost billions of dollars and take years to solve, state and federal officials say.

As the historic drought hitting much of the country decreases the flow of rivers and streams, more municipalities are drawing water from underground aquifers and wells. And emerging data shows PFAS contamination could be prevalent in some of those groundwater sources.

“This is not an insurmountable problem,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told Bloomberg Law. “But when we use a groundwater supply, we’ve got to make ...