HB541
ABOUT HB 541
The companies that invented, marketed, and manufactured PFAS knew for
decades that their products were dangerous to human and environmental health. Despite this, they continued to produce them, and took very few efforts to limit the risk they posed. Water utilities often find that lawsuits are their only option to fund new treatment facilities without raising rates. Unfortunately, current legal standards of proof are strongly tilted in favor of the companies responsible for PFAS pollution, and make it difficult for our drinking water utilities to recover the true costs of cleaning up our drinking water. This bill creates a new legal cause of action which would allow Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) or local drinking water utilities to sue polluters who have contaminated public drinking water sources with toxic PFAS chemicals, and to recover the cost to clean it up. By keeping the decision to sue in the hands of the professionals and experts at our drinking water utilities, we can also ensure that this new cause of action won’t be misused, and that all of the money from a lawsuit or settlement can go towards cleaning up Alabama’s drinking water.
This legislation fixes this problem by leveling the legal playing field to make sure those who are responsible for contaminating Alabamians’ drinking water are the ones responsible for cleaning it up – not the water providers or the rate payers! Click here to read the bill.
WHAT ARE FOREVER CHEMICALS (PFAS)
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are a category of toxic man-made chemicals that do not break down over time, even in water. This is why they are often referred to as forever chemicals. According to the current EPA administration, exposure to PFAS has been linked to many different cancers, kidney and liver problems, and reproductive problems such as low birth weight and reproductive health issues in both women and men. These horrible health impacts can happen even at incredibly low levels of exposure.
HOW ARE PFAS IMPACTING DRINKING WATER IN ALABAMA
Industries in Georgia and Tennessee are a major contributor to PFAS contamination in Alabama waters, and these chemicals have been found in drinking water sources across the state at levels harmful to human health. In recent years, new drinking water limits have been passed that require water utilities to remove these chemicals from drinking water. While these protections are essential for public health, they come with high costs.
WHO SHOULD PAY FOR THIS?
Removing PFAS requires costly treatment technologies that most utilities in Alabama do not currently use. The costs of upgrading treatment facilities to comply with new regulations and protect human health should not be borne by families and communities who rely on clean water. The costs should be paid by those who are responsible for these chemicals ending up in our drinking water in the first place. Existing government funding programs do not and will not provide enough money for all utilities to comply with these new limits and protect their customers.
MORE INFO
Click the video below to watch THE COST OF FOREVER, a short documentary uncovering the hidden and costly dangers of ‘forever chemicals’ in our rivers and drinking water sources, following water protectors in Alabama as they protect communities – and themselves – from PFAS contamination.
Click here to tell your house member to vote yes on hb 541!