A study conducted by DNREC finds “forever chemicals” or PFAS in some surface water samples across the First State.
The Fall 2022 study by DNREC’s Watershed Approach to Toxics Assessment and Restoration Team collected and analyzed 83 surface water samples from 33 watersheds in the state.
PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals found in various industrial and consumer products, and in the environment and human body.
DNREC plans to use the study results to direct resources to identify, control and remediate sources of PFAS.
DNREC hydrologist Todd Keyser co-authored the study.
"What we do know in Little Creek is that we have sampled private wells, we have detected PFAS above the proposed regulatory standard, which has been our action standard for a year and a half at this point, and we then implemented mitigation- short-term mitigation - recognizing that as the scope of the problem increases, we have a larger responsibility through time to provide a much longer term solution,” said Keyser.
According to the study, the Red Clay Creek, Hershey Run, Long Branch, and Shellpot Creek in New Castle County and Little River and St. Jones River in Kent County deserve prioritized follow-up actions.
That includes resampling to verify the data collected, and a review of any data collected nearby in other DNREC studies.
John Cargill is a hydrologist for the DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship and co-author of the study.
"Part of what's next is to continue what we've been doing, which is to collect the information that we need to collect to understand where in state people are being exposed,” said Cargill. “So we're not done with that yet, but the surface water report that's just coming out is just one avenue of exposure."
If DNREC confirms elevated concentrations of PFAS, then more samples will be collected within the affected water bodies, general site areas or within the broader watersheds.
