New Mexico gets millions to address PFAS, the 'forever chemicals', contamination

May 23—New Mexico's Environment Department is getting $18.9 million in federal dollars to help the state deal with PFAS and other emerging contamination in public water systems, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday.

New Mexico is the first state in the region to receive this funding, said EPA Region 6 Administrator Earthea Nance. The funds can be used for studying PFAS contamination, cleaning up contamination and investing in new technologies, said New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney.

"These forever chemicals will not be forever problems," Kenney said.

New Mexico municipalities will have to apply for the money.

What are PFAS?

PFAS, or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals developed in the 1940s to repel substances such as water, oil and soil and reduce friction. They can be found in goods like nonstick cookware, stain-resistant clothing and firefighting equipment, Nance said.

There are thousands of PFAS chemicals and they break down slowly over time.

"The science is clear that exposure to certain PFAS over a long period of time will cause cancer and other illnesses," Nance said. Exposure during pregnancy or early childhood can also have negative health effects.

"When we first began using these chemicals, we didn't understand how they could get into the bloodstream of humans and animals and the devastating impacts that those could have," said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

PFAS have been a significant issue in several New Mexico communities.

In 2022, Highland Dairy in Clovis had to euthanize its entire herd, more than 3,000 cows, because of PFAS contamination in the cows' milk. The groundwater the cows drank was contaminated by firefighting foam used at Cannon Air Force Base.

What is the government doing about PFAS?

In April, the EPA issued the first national drinking water standard to protect people from exposure to PFAS, which the EPA estimates will reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people.

New Mexico does not have all the resources needed to understand the health impacts and clean up PFAS contamination, so federal dollars are necessary, Stansbury said.

"But also because the federal government is one of the main polluters in New Mexico because of its use, especially by the Air Force," Stansbury said. Congress has been trying to get more money on a bipartisan basis for PFAS cleanup, especially around defense installations, she said.

Kenney said he would like to see the state Legislature ban PFAS in New Mexico, except for essential uses such as medicine. The millions of federal dollars could then be focused on just cleaning up historic pollution.

Is this enough money to address PFAS contamination?

The short answer is no, according to Jorge Estrada, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Environment Department.

"Through 2026, there's going to be more opportunities through the federal government for more funding, for more grants," Estrada said. Over the next five years, New Mexico will have the opportunity to apply for more than $40 million in federal dollars to address PFAS contamination.

How expensive addressing PFAS contamination will be is unknown, according to Nance, because more data needs to be gathered to find out how much PFAS contamination exists.

"That's pretty much true across the United States," Nance said. "We're still trying to find out the breadth of the problem."