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Shippensburg Water Worries

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Tamela's interview with Maddie Seiler, 3/12/25, after learning about the extremely high PFAS levels in private wells near Middle Creek was published, "Shippensburg Water Worries" by Maddie Seiler, The Sentinel, May 3rd, 2025. MPP's community resource is for people with high PFAS levels.  PFAS Awareness. Notifies folks about PFAS along Conodoguinet Creek and elevated concentrations in Middle Spring Creek. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CWtbJGSzsp9crIL7DgHV1TpIGwz39Fs4/view

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How Much PFAS was in Carlisle, PA Wastewater Effluent?

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Tamela Trussell used a Cyclopure sample to collect water from the opposing bank where Carlisle's wastewater effluent enters the Conodoguinet Creek. At the time of collection, it was surprisingly low at 15.7 ppt.  Regular testing must occur because of the fluctuation of effluent release and what discharges enter the treatment plant.  Testing should be repeated on the side of the bank the water is entering because the flow of the water does not mix at the point of testing.

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600ppt PFAS enters Conodoguinet Creek

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On 3/7/25, Tamela Trussell tested the confluence of a primary tributary entering the Conodoguinet for PFAS.  This is a stream she's been concerned about since 2019, when a friend introduced it to her.  The headwaters of the stream sit below the Carlisle legacy landfill.  The leachate has many hazardous chemicals above the regulated levels and is being investigated by North Middleton Township and DEP due to its efforts.

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DEP Holds Public Hearing

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Combined PFAS levels were discovered from 3.4 ppt to 8,953.7 ppt in the private wells. by Gabe Rader, Newville Valley Times Star, February 26th, 2025

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Where and for what toxin with we test and monitor for in the Conodoguinet Creek?

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Are you concerned about plastics pollution and its connection to climate and watershed harms but don't know where and how to get involved, join us!

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RSVP 1/24/25

Register for the Advocacy Team Builder Mixer 1/28/2025 5:30-7:30  https://bit.ly/AdvocacyMixer

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Back Porch Brewery,  133 N Hanover St, Carlisle, PA 17013

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1st South Central PA Advocacy Team Building Mixer 2025 vs3 (2)

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Friends of Historic Heishman’s Mill, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation of Natural Resources (DCNR), the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PAFBC), and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) in celebrating the completion of the Heishman’s Mill Canoe/Kayak Portage, which will facilitate safe passage for recreational paddlers and fishermen around the mill dam on the western Conodoguinet Creek.

The Heishman Mill Portage will provide paddlers and anglers with a safe point of access to this western section of the Conodoguinet Creek. It will now be possible to extend the Conodoguinet Water Trail 25 river miles west of its current western terminus at North Middleton Park. It will also help make the proposed Conodoguinet Greenway a reality. Congratulations!

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Pollution can hide better than I can.

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Events like this cause severe erosion and toxins to enter our creeks.

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Out with a friend cleaning up the toxic tires and other trash

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Enjoying the Conodoguinet Creek at Scotts Farm 

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July 2024 Forests for the Bay Newsletter

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News Around the Watershed, under Pennsylvania

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July 2024 Forests for the Bay Newsletter

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As a heatwave continues across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, humans, critters, and plants alike seek out shade and moisture to get a respite from the hot temperatures. This month's newsletter features news and event highlights along with the monthly trivia reveal. Read this month's newsletter to learn more about rattlesnakes, forest management, ninebark.

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Amid years of odor complaints and environmental concerns about the use of food processing residuals, or FPRs, in Cumberland County, government action could be on the way.

Work is underway at the state and local levels on FPRs, a term to describe food processing byproducts used as a fertilizer substitute by some farmers.

According to state Rep. Barb Gleim, who represents the 199th Legislative District, covering the Carlisle and Newville areas, FPRs can refer to plant or vegetable-based by-products or animal-processing products that typically produce a strong odor.

State action

Gleim is part of a work group that formed in November to address potential state legislation on FPR use.

The group meets monthly and consists of about 40 members, including other Pennsylvania state representatives, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Agriculture officials, area experts and a legal team, she said.

In early March, Gleim announced a co-sponsorship memo and legislation to update FPR regulations.

The existing Food Processing Residual Management Manual was written in 1994 and doesn't account for scientific and technological advances since then.

Gleim said Chapter 8 of the FPR manual is not expected to change. Instead, the proposed legislation is designed to add to it, incorporating best management practices for farmers and haulers.

These could include injecting the product into the soil rather than spreading it on top, which can help reduce odor, and enforcing setbacks from wells or homes.

FPR producers also would be required to test the material and document what's in it. A certification process for brokers and haulers could also be implemented to help ensure that best management practices are in place before the material is applied to fields.

Gleim said if anything in the process doesn't meet the new standards, that certification could be pulled and FPR spreading could be considered dumping, with penalties according to the Solid Waste Management Act.

She said the legislation is necessary because FPR use is a health and safety issue for the region.

"There have been instances throughout central Pennsylvania, where homeowners are worried that their wells have been contaminated, because there are no best management practices in place for this," Gleim said. "So in other words, they may be spreading too close to a waterway. They may be spreading too close to a well or a home. They're not treating it for odor."

In addition to area experts and state representatives, she said farmers and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau have participated in the work group's discussions.

Gleim said their concerns about FPR regulations have been taken into consideration and she acknowledged that additional legislation could be more cumbersome for farmers.

However, she said the Environmental Protection and Agriculture departments are working together on this rather than shutting down the practice entirely.

"Maryland and Virginia have very strict regulations around FPRS, and Pennsylvania has decided they're not going to go that route," Gleim said. "They will try to manage it first, and the reason is because there are other avenues that farmers can actually benefit from this."

With the work group's final meeting scheduled for May 2, Gleim hopes the legislation, which is a bipartisan effort, can be passed by July.

If approved, she believes it will likely go into effect within 90 days.

Local action

While work at the state level progresses, Cumberland County municipalities are also looking for ways to address food processing residual use in the area.

Cumberland County Planning Director Kirk Stoner said much of the power associated with establishing FPR regulations lies at the state level.

As "creatures of the state," counties and municipalities assume powers delegated to them by the state.

"If DEP would say yeah, counties go ahead and enact regulations, and conservation districts, you're responsible for enforcing and inspection, then we'd be in the game. But they haven't given us that express authority," Stoner said.

He believes an outright ban on FPR use at the municipal level would likely be subject to litigation due to the state's Right to Farm laws, which are designed to protect agricultural operations.

Instead, counties and municipalities can send resolutions and letters of support to the state, something Gleim said can help show representatives what people want.

Several Cumberland County municipalities are pooling resources to further investigate FPR use.

Earlier this year, the South Middleton Township Board of Supervisors authorized the township's solicitor through Salzmann Hughes to look into possible legal or statutory regulations for FPR use.

"There [are] certain laws that ... protect farmers' right to farm and limits, in certain ways, what regulations municipalities can can enact, and so we definitely don't want to run afoul of anything," Township Manager Cory Adams said. "So that's a major reason why we're taking this approach first, having this reviewed from a legal perspective, before we do something that may not be authorized."

This created a coalition that allows other municipalities to enter into a joint cost sharing agreement to help cover expenses associated with that legal work. In the months that followed the coalition's creation, other municipalities have joined, including Dickinson Township and Penn Township.

"I think it is important that Dickinson Township take a leadership role on this and not simply sit back," Dickinson Township Supervisor Jennifer DeGaetano said in a news release. "We are thankful to South Middleton Township for its invitation to work cooperatively together to find a way to adequately address a practice that appears to be largely unregulated and now severely restricted in other states."

Adams said the initiative was something South Middleton Township wanted to pursue because of its central location and FPR use there.

"Practices like this, it ... doesn't begin and end and follow municipal boundaries, particularly since the practice has considerable odor attached to it," he said. "The wind blows across municipal boundaries."

Water contamination concerns and the widespread use of FPRs are other reasons South Middleton wanted to spearhead the effort, he said.

Adams said the coalition is in phase one of its work, which involves conducting research and communicating with state officials about possible next steps.

Any subsequent phase would be based on phase one, he said.

As for cost sharing, the more municipalities that join the coalition, the more spread out the costs can be.

"Some of these communities are a little smaller, and we just want to have ... whatever financial support they're able to provide to us because we're funding it and we're continuing to move forward on it," Adams said. "This is an issue that impacts all communities [so] we're looking for some help."

To Stoner, it's all about finding a balance.

"There's some of the common problems we hear but I think from the farm side [and] from our side, we've heard that FPRs can be beneficial," he said. "So trying to find that middle ground of what's beneficial not going too far from a smell or pollution standpoint is really important."

Photos: Animals and exhibits draw crowds to the 108th Pennsylvania Farm Show

Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @byMaddieSei

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State legislation, Cumberland County coalition could address FPR use

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Work is currently underway at both the state and local levels in relation to FPRs, a broad term to describe food processing byproducts used as a fertilizer substitute by some

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Collect trash when you recreate.

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Beef With Biosolids: Concern Spreads in Pennsylvania County

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Locals have growing concerns over biosolid applications on nearby farms that could contaminate their land with heavy metals and PFAS.

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Primary Stream Headwaters entering the Conodoguinet Creek in North Middleton township entering the Conodoguinet Creek

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Primary Stream Headwaters entering the Conodoguinet Creek in North Middleton township entering the Conodoguinet Creek

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How many will obliviously float past the bottle?

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How many will obliviously float past the bottle?

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State Impact PA, by Rachel McDevitt, June 20th, 2024

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State Impact PA, by Rachel McDevitt, June 20th, 2024

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Conodoguinet Creek the focus of new citizen science project | StateImpact Pennsylvania

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The goal is to combine citizen science with existing data from regulatory bodies.

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"Don't leave your fishing line. it has PFAS, makes microplastics, and tangles wildlife and me." 

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"Don't leave your fishing line. it has PFAS, makes microplastics, and tangles wildlife and me." 

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1st time to fish in the Conodoguinet Creek

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1st time to fish in the Conodoguinet Creek

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Collected single-use plastic and other litter around the parking of Hidden Creek Park after stand-up paddle boarding on the Conodoguinet Creek

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Collected single-use plastic and other litter around the parking of Hidden Creek Park after stand-up paddle boarding on the Conodoguinet Creek

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Fish&Intro (8.5 x 11 in) (Instagram Post)

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A Conversation on Plastic Bags and Bottles Facebook Post (11 x 8.5 in)

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As the school year is underway across Pennsylvania, local leaders are concerned about students' health. More importantly what they're putting in their bodies.

"This is across the Commonwealth. This is a rural problem this is an urban problem," said Stephanie Wein, Clean Water Advocate, for PennEnvironment.

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released its third edition of the "Get the Lead Out" report and Pennsylvania received an "F".

"We want to make sure that the public understands that safe drinking water for our students and our educators across Pennsylvania should be at the top of everybody's list. This is not a partisan issue, this is we're talking about safety for our students," Jeff Nye, Vice President of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

The grade was based on the PA's state policies aimed at stopping and preventing lead contamination of schools' drinking water. Something that has been an issue for years and now is the time to fix it.

"What we want to do is make sure that we're getting lead-certified filters installed in schools that likely have led in the pipes. Which is most schools you know built before 2014 and that way we don't even need to worry if we caught it on that one day that we're testing it putting a filter in place gives us that piece of mind," said Wein.

The plan is to create a policy for adding filtration systems in every school, but the longer it takes...the longer children and school staff could be at risk.

"It's been particularly egregious for younger children the damage from it is irreversible and they do not have any policy in place to even test for it let alone remediate it," said Arthur G. Steinberg, president, AFT Pennsylvania.

According to a 2021 report by Women for a Healthy Environment, out of 65 Pennsylvania school districts tested 91% of those found lead in their water something they hope to change.

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Pennsylvania gets an "F" in Lead in School Drinking Water report

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As the school year is underway across Pennsylvania, local leaders are concerned about students' health. More importantly what they're putting in their bodies. "This is across the Commonwealth. This is a rural problem this is an urban problem," said Stephanie Wein, Clean Water Advocate, for PennEnvironment.

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Technology designed to remove polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from the Carlisle Borough's water supply could be in the pipeline after testing revealed chemicals higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed limits.

Commonly referred to as "forever chemicals," PFAS contain strong bonds that make them difficult to break down. They are commonly found in chemical and water-resistant coatings, firefighting foam and food and product packaging.

Gannett Fleming Vice President and Water Process and Operations Group Manager Jamie Shambaugh spoke about PFAS treatment for Carlisle's water supply during the borough council's Nov. 1 workshop meeting.

"[PFAS] can be found not everywhere but in a lot of places and have impacted a lot of water supplies," he said. "So this has been a big focus of the water industry."

Current levels, regulations

Public Works Director Mark Malarich said the Carlisle Borough Council authorized an engineering evaluation at the end of last year to examine methods of removing PFAS from the borough's water supply.

The borough also collected samples at Carlisle's Water Treatment Plant along Longs Gap Road in North Middleton Township several times over the past two years and tested them for PFAS.

In January, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection adopted a regulation to limit the amount of PFOA and PFOS, two common types of PFAS, in public water systems. The ruling sets a maximum containment level of 14 parts per trillion of PFOA and 18 parts per trillion of PFOS, with initial monitoring to begin in 2024.

Shambaugh said a part per trillion is roughly one inch per 16 million miles or a grain of sand in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

"These contaminants ... particularly at these levels [are] not an acute toxicity concern," he said. "It's more about long-term exposure to these things, so that's also important to realize the basis of those regulations."

Carlisle's water samples fell within the state's regulations, Shambaugh said.

However, the EPA is proposing federal regulations that are anticipated to be finalized by the end of this year or early next year, he said.

Those rules would limit PFAS levels to 4 ppt for both PFOA and PFOS, and allow three years for compliance.

Samples of Carlisle's water revealed some PFOA and all PFOS levels higher than the proposed federal limit, Shambaugh said.

Aside from state and federal regulations, he said the borough's goal is to provide water with nondetectable PFAS concentrations.

"This is something that the borough is actually ahead of the curve on," he said, considering water sampling and a preliminary engineering study have already been completed.

However, Malarich said that should the federal regulations be finalized, the borough would be competing with other areas for funding, environmental permitting space, contractors and equipment suppliers in order to comply with the regulations within the allotted three-year window.

"It's much more beneficial for the borough to act in a prompt manner as opposed to wait until EPA regulations become finalized," he said.

Potential systems, timeline

Shambaugh outlined two PFAS treatment systems that could be implemented at the water treatment center.

"Most of these systems are two-vessel pairs with a lead vessel and a lag vessel," he said. "So all of the water that is being treated first goes through a lead vessel, which removes most of the PFAS, and then it is piped to the top of a second vessel and goes through that vessel, the lag vessel, primarily for polishing."

Engineers considered two examples of treatment media in the vessels, granular activated carbon and ion-exchange resin.

The ion-exchange equipment would occupy a smaller footprint than activated carbon systems, and requires a short amount of time water would have to be in contact with that medium for proper PFAS removal.

Ion exchange would be the lower price of the two options, with estimated total project costs around $9 million. The carbon system's estimated cost would be just under $13 million.

If the council approves the project, the next steps include pilot testing, which takes about six to nine months, and about three months of preliminary design work.

Shambaugh estimated the total project from testing and design to completion to take a little more than two years.

A proposal will likely be presented to the council in December or January, Malarich said.

He said costs for the design work have been incorporated into the draft of the borough's 2024 budget and construction costs could be included in the budget for 2025.

Photos: An inside look at Carlisle's Water Treatment Plant

Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @SeilerMadalyn

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Carlisle considers PFAS treatment system for water supply

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Commonly referred to as "forever chemicals," PFAS contain strong bonds that make them difficult to break down.

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By Maddie Seiler 6/7/24. Updated Jun 12th, 2024 Sentinel Newspaper

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By Maddie Seiler 6/7/24. Updated Jun 12th, 2024 Sentinel Newspaper

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Some people might not know what a watershed is and, until recently, Tamela Trussell was one of them.

Now, the Carlisle resident is helping launch conservation initiatives for the Conodoguinet Creek watershed.

Known as Creek Defenders, the project introduced a pollution report form that will allow community members to report issues along the creek.

A map also gathers watershed data from multiple sources into one place.

Move Past Plastic

Both initiatives come through Move Past Plastic, an organization Trussell founded in 2021 with a focus on addressing single-use plastic and sharing and implementing solutions.

She has been concerned about litter since her childhood, and recalls collecting cans and swapping them for cash.

"I'd be really happy about that, but then I'd be sad," Trussell said. "So it's this paradox of stress ... because every can I saw, every bottle I saw, my heart broke."

A former science teacher, she found herself wondering what to do during the COVID-19 pandemic and began to get involved in several environmental organizations, becoming a master watershed steward, joining the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association 's board and stepping onto the Carlisle Borough's Climate Action Commission.

The more involved Trussell became, the more she realized the "real problem": plastics.

"I just started diving in more to that, and then of course you find out ... this is bigger than a litter problem, this is a chemical problem of toxicity," she said.

Chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS.

Commonly used in water-resistant fabrics, food packaging, cookware and firefighting foam, PFAS are categorized by their strong carbon-fluorine bonds that don't break down easily, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

The chemicals have made headlines in recent years for their potentially harmful health effects and their widespread presence in human and animal blood streams, soil and, in many cases, water supplies.

Watershed initiatives

In one way or another, Trussell said the microplastics work their way into the water cycle.

"All of this is in our watersheds, and people don't even know what a watershed is," she said. "They don't understand what it provides for them. I didn't and I was a teacher for crying out loud. I hardly knew the Conodoguinet Creek existed, and I raised my children just a stone's throw away."

A watershed is an area that drains streams and rainfall to a common outlet and includes surface water and groundwater, according to the United States Geological Survey. The Conodoguinet Creek watershed supplies drinking water, offers habitats for animals and plants and provides recreation opportunities.

The more Trussell studied the watershed, the less data she discovered.

Through the creation of the report form and the map, she hopes to gather watershed data into one place and use it to develop recommendations that can be implemented in the future.

Data can come from sources like the U.S. Geological Survey, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report form would enable community members to call attention to issues like pollutants, dead fish or other potential concerns that Move Past Plastic or the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association can investigate.

"We're going to pull all this data onto a map and we'll have all these layers that people can choose - I only want to look at regulatory data, or I only want to look at academic or I want to include the citizen science data," Trussell said.

She hopes the data will reveal potential pollutants or areas that might require further testing, elements that can be brought before the public for input before recommendations can be made and later implemented.

Data for drafting recommendations will be gathered by August, though information will continue to be added to the map as it is reported.

While these initiatives focus specifically on the Conodoguinet Creek, Trussell plans to take the ideas beyond the watershed's boundaries to neighboring waterways and, eventually, to watersheds across the United States.

She hopes the map will serve as a model for other watershed organizations that can work to identify their own pollutants, discharges, land uses and other impacting factors.

"They are our circulatory system," she said. "They are our heart and our blood ... they are veins that support the entire ecosystem including us. If we don't pay attention to what's happening in our watershed and how we treat it, we're going to be the one who pays for it."

Other involvement

In addition to watershed initiatives, Move Past Plastic focuses on other environmental issues, hosting regular events addressing topics like biosolid use, sustainable clothing, climate change and more.

Consisting of a variety of community members, businesses and organizations, Move Past Plastic also has opportunities for membership, allowing people to join in seeking systemic changes or implement personal lifestyle changes in the name of sustainability, like making homemade products or swapping to more eco friendly household items.

Overall, Trussell pushes community members to keep learning about the topics at hand.

"What you do matters, because it mattered to get us to that condition," she said. "So it's going to matter to get us out."

Photos: North Middleton Park Flooding

Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @byMaddieSei

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Pollution report forms will enable community members to report issues within the creek and a map will help gather watershed data from multiple sources into one place.

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Op-Ed By Tamela Trussell, from The Bay Journal, May 7th, 2024

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Op-Ed By Tamela Trussell, from The Bay Journal, May 7th, 2024

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The prevalence and pervasive nature of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in our waterways are alarming. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, published in August Science of the Total Environment, found that 76% of rivers and streams tested in Pennsylvania contained PFAS - highly toxic chemicals that pose severe health and environmental risks.

With nearly 15,000 variations, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, these substances, often referred to as "forever chemicals," bioaccumulate in fish and animals and persist in the environment, leading to widespread contamination across various sectors, including industry, consumer products and even the water cycle itself.

PFAS contamination stems from a dizzying array of sources, including industrial production, firefighting foam, plastics manufacturing, electronics, mining, agriculture, and wastewater. Their ubiquitous presence in everyday items, from cookware to clothing, ties them intricately to the life cycle of plastics. Moreover, studies indicate that PFAS are found in the environment, wildlife and human blood, with alarming health implications.

The maximum safe levels of these chemicals are extremely low, with the EPA setting health advisories at minute concentrations - in some cases less than 1 part per trillion - emphasizing their potent dangers. Eliminating existing contamination would be extraordinarily impractical, so identifying the sources of contamination is critical to tackling the problem.

Another USGS study showed that 45% of drinking water contains one or more PFAS. Researchers with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection found that four polyfluoroalkyl substances, in particular, showed up in all of the samples taken from 11 rivers around the state.

Wildlife studies reveal the presence of PFAS in various species, highlighting the extensive reach of these contaminants across ecosystems. The Environmental Working Group, a national public health watchdog, analyzed more than 200 recent peer-reviewed studies and concluded that PFAS were found in more than 600 wildlife species worldwide. "It is urgent that ongoing releases of PFAS be identified," said David Andrews, an EWG senior scientist.

Microplastics, another apparently ubiquitous pollutant, are interlinked with PFAS, amplifying contamination. In 2020, researchers in Illinois and Michigan studied the interaction of PFAS and microplastics in lake water and concluded that PFAS adsorption (adherence) was common in three widely used types of plastic: polypropylene, polyethylene and polyester. "Given the prevalence of PFAS and microplastics in natural waters, coupled with the extremely long persistence time of both classes of pollutants," the team reported, "these two groups of emerging contaminants may act synergistically in food webs to cause adverse effects in fish and wildlife, as well as humans."

And it's now abundantly clear that microplastics are in all of our waters. Studies in Pennsylvania's streams and rivers, even those deemed ecologically valuable, show high rates of microplastic pollution. A 2015-19 study of microplastics in a 200-mile stretch of the Delaware River by the USGS and National Park Service found microplastic fragments, mostly in the form of fiber, in 100% of the water and sediment samples and 94% of the fish.

The issue expands beyond water bodies.

Farmlands and wastewater treatment plants contribute to the problem. Biosolids, a fertilizer byproduct of sewage treatment, are a potential carrier of PFAS, impacting agricultural lands and, subsequently, the food supply. The lack of comprehensive testing methods and standards for PFAS

in biosolids poses a significant challenge.

There are 516 major sewage plants in the Chesapeake Bay region. A study found that each plant releases an average of 4 million microplastic particles daily. Biosolids are created from processing municipal sewage. Many known or suspected PFAS contamination sites in Pennsylvania are located near the state's 51 sewage treatment plant. The EPA and Pennsylvania's DEP permit six of them to produce biosolids for land application.

Many Pennsylvania farms have been contaminated by the spreading of biosolids since 1989. Biosolids have also been used in mine land reclamation projects around the state - an estimated 750,000 tons of it, covering about 4,500 acres. Farms also become contaminated with PFAS from microplastics and the application of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Introducing microplastics and PFAS into our soil creates a vicious cycle of food contamination. Even organic farmers are devastated by legacy applications of sludge laced with PFAS.

PFAS have been found in hay, tree fruit and more.

Urban and industrial areas are not immune to contamination. Current and legacy sites, like landfills and manufacturing facilities, are identified as primary contributors of PFAS and other toxic chemicals and microplastics. The challenge lies not only in identifying these sources but also in regulating and remediating them effectively.

More research is needed to assess the contamination and its impact on wildlife and human health, and it is essential to identify areas less affected for comparative studies. As the evidence grows, it becomes clear that PFAS represent an unavoidable and hazardous chemical class that threatens ecosystems, human health and the environment.

Addressing this issue requires a multi-faceted approach: manufacturing and disposal regulations, responsible waste management, developing alternatives - and holding producers accountable for testing, monitoring and remediation.

And it requires immediate action at both regulatory and industrial levels.

Awareness, stringent monitoring and proactive measures to limit PFAS use are imperative for safeguarding all life forms from their silent but destructive impact.
Tamela Trussell is the founder and president of Move Past Plastic, based in Carlisle, PA. The views expressed by opinion columnists are not necessarily those of the Bay Journal.

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How PFAS, microplastics join forces as a synergistic threat

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The prevalence and pervasive nature of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in our waterways are alarming. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental

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Water conservation order remains in effect after oil spill in Cumberland County creek

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MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A mandatory water conservation order remains in place for a second day following a diesel spill that happened in Conodoguinet Creek on Tuesday. Customers in the Me…