By Pam Miller
For The Cordova Times
Reporter James Brooks of the Anchorage Daily News noted in an article following the regular session, that the Alaska State Legislature “didn’t fix the state’s major issues… and legislation on big, weighty topics… failed to advance.” He also observed that the legislature passed a paltry 34 bills, “the fifth-fewest of any year since statehood.” Currently, our legislature is focused on the budget and trying to avert a government shutdown. No doubt this is important. However, what about the other major unfinished business that affects the lives, health and livelihoods of Alaskans?
One the state’s major issues that was not fixed during the past legislative session is the water quality and public health crisis caused by contamination by PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS contaminate the drinking water of thousands of people in Alaska from the North Slope to southeast because of the dispersive use of PFAS in firefighting foams used on airports and military bases. Several lakes have been closed to fishing because of PFAS contamination. There are many more sites of known or suspected PFAS contamination that have not been tested due to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s agonizingly slow response. PFAS or “forever chemicals” are dangerous substances that do not break down and cause a range of adverse health effects including cancers, immune system suppression, thyroid and reproductive disorders.
The legislature failed to act on two bills that would help address the PFAS problem, House Bill 121 and Senate Bill 171. The bills would set enforceable drinking water standards for a number of PFAS as well as requirements for polluters to pay for safe drinking water and blood tests for people affected by PFAS contamination. There are safe alternatives to PFAS and we can prevent further harm by enacting this legislation. Taxpayers are shouldering the burden of cleanup, to provide safe water, and ultimately the health costs caused by PFAS. In Alaska, costs of PFAS remediation have already exceeded $22 million and this is likely to run into the billions.
Legislators should consider the costs of inaction to health and livelihoods of Alaskans now and in the future. Policymakers in Flint, Michigan failed to take action to prevent lead poisoning, resulting in devastating harm to generations of children. We should learn from their mistakes. There is no excuse for policymakers not to take immediate action on PFAS.
Pam Miller is the executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics Anchorage.
