Take Control of PFAS

Whether your PFAS water treatment challenge is protecting water at its source, treating it to the highest standards, delivering it to homes and businesses, or collecting and treating wastewater, Black & Veatch delivers solutions that ensure your organization’s financial, risk, operational and strategic needs are well met. As a technology-agnostic provider, Black & Veatch helps organizations confidently select and implement the best and most cost-effective PFAS treatment solution using industry-leading testing and cost modeling capabilities to ensure that your CAPEX and OPEX decision-making is optimized.

In addition to designing and constructing state-of-the-art facilities such as those at Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, we provide funding and financing assistance, community engagement, and ongoing O&M support to ensure project success across the infrastructure lifecycle.

The dynamic and highly accelerated issuance of PFAS-related regulations and policies poses tremendous operational, financial and liability risks to many commercial and manufacturing sectors and companies.

Black & Veatch delivers cost-effective solutions for PFAS treatment for the commercial and manufacturing sectors to minimize the uncertainty and financial impact of dealing with PFAS in your supply chain, your workplace, your process discharges or wastes, or in any design or construction projects to treat or completely mineralize PFAS compounds

Black & Veatch helps organizations cost-effectively achieve full compliance with existing regulations and prepare for likely future regulatory or liability pressures.

Many states have adopted significant (and sometimes quite different) PFAS regulations related to water, soil, reporting, and consumer products. Compliance in such an inconsistent regulatory environment is challenging, especially for companies working in many states. However, this challenge is multiplied by the federal government’s accelerated efforts to develop and enforce PFAS regulations. Recently, the federal government has stated intent to:

• Promulgate new (and very low level) drinking water standards for a few PFAS compounds and begin nationwide testing for dozens more for future potential standards.

• Increase PFAS reporting responsibilities under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

• Publish new effluent limit guidelines to limit PFAS discharges from industrial sources and leverage National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to reduce discharges of PFAS to under the Clean Water Act.

• Propose specific PFAS compounds as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) hazardous substances and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous constituents and make emerging contaminants subject to RCRA corrective actions.

• Use enforcement tools to address PFAS releases at facilities and address existing contamination.

Whether your organization is seeking to cost-effectively achieve and maintain regulatory compliance, or you are approaching the PFAS challenge from a sustainability or “early adopter” perspective, Black & Veatch’s environmental consulting services can develop a program to assess and address any PFAS-related issues you face.

Black & Veatch can develop a program to help your organization identify and investigate potential PFAS impacts to any environmental media and comply with all applicable state and federal regulations associated with measuring or mitigating the impacts of PFAS released to the environment. Currently these actions are being driven by federal agency cleanup programs, state regulations, and legal settlements. However, the uncertainty of cleanup requirements is being addressed by the federal government through EPA’s proposed regulatory and enforcement plans. EPA has recently confirmed that it will designate PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” pursuant to CERCLA, which will “require facilities across the country to report on PFOA and PFOS releases”. EPA or other agencies could also seek cost recovery or contributions for costs incurred for the remediation of PFOA and PFOS. Perhaps most significantly, EPA can reopen sites that have already been remediated for other compounds if there are PFAS impacts as well. Finally, the agency will also seek to add four PFAS compounds (PFOA / PFOS / PFBS, and GenX) as RCRA hazardous constituents, subject to RCRA Corrective Action. In addition, if EPA is successful, these designated PFAS compounds will need to be evaluated as part of a company’s due diligence (i.e., Phase I Environmental Site Assessments) when purchasing property to satisfy all appropriate inquiries requirement. For companies purchasing or selling industrial properties, this new requirement may have a material impact on property value and the ability to obtain insurance.

In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first-ever drinking water standard for Per/Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which has gained significant attention for low contaminant limits. With new regulations demanding urgent action, utilities are challenged to address public concerns, expand contaminant testing processes, and take necessary action when PFAS are detected.

Modular water treatment solutions provide immediate relief from PFAS contamination concerns. While new facilities and expansions can take years to permit and construct, modular units can be deployed as soon as upfront testing and assessments are complete. Modular solutions offer the following benefits:

• Compact configurations that can be delivered by vehicle

• Utilization of well-established treatment methods (GAC, IX)

• Capacity to treat up to two million gallons per day (MGD), per unit

• Option to deploy multiple units simultaneously to achieve higher treatment flows

• On-board pilot capabilities for flexible operations

• Reduced costs and shortened lead times

• Potential for streamlined regulatory process