ORANGE, NJ — According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Health Advisory Level, Orange water continues to be acceptable for all uses, including drinking and washing, a March 17 press release from Orange stated.
“I am pleased to report that based on state and national standards, our water is safe for drinking and bathing,” Mayor Dwayne Warren said in the release. “I encourage water consumers to continue to be guided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on water quality issues. The EPA is the government agency responsible for setting the legal limits for contaminants in tap water and overseeing overall water quality. The EPA tests regularly and has determined that Orange water is safe.”
The EPA does not currently have federal maximum contaminant levels for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS; PFAS are a group of manmade chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS and many other chemicals. The EPA does have a lifetime 70 parts per trillion health advisory level for the sum of PFOA and PFOS in drinking water. The PFOA and PFOS in Orange drinking water is well below the 70 ppt EPA health advisory level. According to the EPA, most people have been exposed to some types of PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection established a much stricter MCL for Perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA, at 13 ppt. On March 31, 2020, NJDEP adopted MCLs for PFOA at 14 ppt and PFOS at 13 ppt, in addition to the existing regulations on PFNA. Utilities are required to start monitoring for PFOA and PFOS in addition to PFNA and to report quarterly results to the state, beginning January 2021. First-quarter results for Orange show that PFOA levels are 23 ppt, or 9 ppt above the strict NJDEP level, but well below the EPA lifetime health advisory of 70 ppt.
“The City is confident that the new solutions introduced over the next year will assist in removing PFOA from the drinking water and getting the PFOA level down under the strict NJDEP standard,” the statement read. “Please stay tuned as we implement periodic upgrades to maintain our water quality.”
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