Technology Networks / Automating Microplastic Analysis To Support Water Quality Research

 

Environmental Finance Center Network / Confident Solids Management in Your Wastewater Lagoon

 

Water Technology / The Hidden Energy Cost of Low-Pressure Reverse Osmosis

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Cleaning Our Waterways: Green Infrastructure Solutions for 6PPDQ

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Quarterly Green Infrastructure Webinar Series: Source Water Protection and Floodplain Reconnection: Watershed-Scale Green Infrastructure

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Green Schoolyards as a Stormwater and Community Resilience Strategy (Part 2): Lessons from Milwaukee

 

Environmental Finance Center Network / Wastewater Secondary Treatment (Part 2)

 

U.S. EPA’s Tools & Resources Webinar Series / Practical Tools to Advance Water Reuse

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Understanding the PFAS Regulatory Framework: What to Know and Watch For

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Introduction to Water Distribution System Modeling (Part 2)

 

Water Research Foundation (WRF) / Microplastics Sampling: Pioneering Practices, Experiences, and Lessons Learned

 

The Center for Technology & Training / Asphalt Paving Planning Webinar

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Managing Stormwater in Small Communities

 

EFCN Environmental Finance Center Network / Better Together: How WIFIA and SRFs Can Power Your Water Infrastructure Projects

 

RCAP Rural Community Assistance Corporation / Lagoon Viability and Maximization of Performance Through Optimization & Maintenance

 

Washington Certification Services Perspectives in Waterworks OpCert

StreamFest

 

6PPD-q, PFOA, PFOS ... it's raining alphabet soup!

Notes on the Washington Department of Ecology's (WECY) updates to Aquatic Life Toxics Criteria (ALTC) (WAC 173-201A), adopted 14 August 2024 and effective 14 September 2024 from Washington state sets newlimits for toxic chemicals in water.

"This rule update includes adding aquatic life criteria for 6PPD-q, the first numeric criteria in the country adopted to protect aquatic life from the harmful effects of this chemical that comes from tire wear. We are also adding criteria for PFOA and PFOS (part of the PFAS chemical group)."

There is much of interest in this latest round of rule making, including the incorporation of mathematical modeling (MLR or multiple linear regression models) to set protective freshwater criteria for certain metals. This will require further study …

At first glance, two major issues which I have concerns have been addressed in that - from the WECY update -

“We integrated methods used in EPA’s 6PPD-quinone screening level calculations that utilize time-weighted average median lethal concentrations (LC50s) and incorporated additional scientific studies released since the rule proposal, resulting in an increase (i.e., less stringent) in the 6PPD-quinone criterion.”

The adoption of a numeric standard will take some time to develop beyond the initial 5-years data collection requirement of the (new) stormwater permit. While studies have documented of the deleterious effects of this pollutant to Coho salmon "in the lab,” what-to-do about it where the rubber meets the road (pun intended) is another matter. There are hundreds of miles of roads in this state, and mitigating 6PPD-quinone is a task that will eclipse barriers to fish passage in comparison in effort and especially public expense. The regulatory aspects of setting numerical criteria will be interesting from both the environmental and regulatory will be interesting.

A tighter criteria - as advocated by WRIA8 in their 7 May 2024 letter to Ecology - that “… [g]iven the very high acute toxicity of 6PPD-q to coho salmon, we [WRIA8] strongly support using EPA’s 5th percentile of the species sensitivity distribution method to set criteria. A freshwater acute criterion of 8 ng/L will ensure coho salmon and other aquatic life are protected.” How they determined such a specific regulatory pollutant concentration to me is unclear … call it a sanity check, but if I could suggest modeling from an environmental services point of view, it would be to establish some realistic relationship of costs to retrofit public infrastructure (i.e. roads) vs. amount of mitigation required to satisfy the numerical concentration selected … fundamental Cost vs. Benefit analysis … a requirement under any regulatory framework as much as it is a political reality.

The PFOA and PFOS is of both national and state-wide concern as it has adverse impacts on drinking water and is an immediate public health concern. As our analytical abilities to detect and measure these toxics of emerging concern advances, this interplay of pollutant concentrations and costs to mitigate I think is at the forefront of public policy. Is too much ever enough?

edited & updated: 2024-08-22 @ 15:15

Global Water Watch (GWW) Stream Biomonitoring, Biological Monitoring & Water Chemistry Monitoring

... and the BIBI training (practical session) on August 6th ...

US EPA offers an educational series via the Watershed Academy

The US EPA offers an educational series via the Watershed Academy, the latest on Citizen Science and water quality monitoring in Leveraging Participatory Science to Advance Water Quality Reporting and Partnership-Building Part  2. Consisting of “show and tell” from various non-profits/NGOs around the country, Part 2 in this two-part series featured the work of Citizen Science in water quality monitoring organizations like the SnoKing Watershed Council.

The fourth presenter – NOAA’s Steve Morton of NCCOS Phytoplankton Monitoring Network – was of particular interest in both subject matter and the organizational structure of NCCOS. I found the monitoring marine phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms (HABs) useful. 

The two-part series can be found here, with the July 11th Part 2 to be posted to the EPA website shortly.

I’ve been completing web-based coursework and - for the most part - it’s been informative and well worth the effort. If you have the time, this “participatory science” series is quite interesting ...