Category: Clean Water Innovations Initiative

Colorado will start putting one of country’s most comprehensive PFAS laws into effect next year 3/15/2023

Colorado will start putting one of country’s most comprehensive PFAS laws into effect next year

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributes to this article about how for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday produced limits on PFAS known as “forever chemicals” in drinking water. It provides guidance for water systems trying to figure out to what level it should limit the presence of the chemicals, which have been connected to serious illnesses including cancer. It will likely mean the addition of costly filtering for many water providers.  March 15, 2023.

EPA announces plans to regulate toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” for the first time, dozens of Colorado water systems affected 3/15/2023

EPA announces plans to regulate toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” for the first time, dozens of Colorado water systems affected

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins was interviewed for this article about how for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing national legal limits on per- and polyflouroalkyl substances — or PFAS — in public water supplies. The proposed changes could affect dozens of public water utilities across the Centennial State. March 15, 2023

EPA’s proposed change on PFAS limits would deem dozens of Colorado water sources unsafe 3/14/2023

EPA’s proposed change on PFAS limits would deem dozens of Colorado water sources unsafe

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributes to this article on how water sources across Colorado contain potentially hazardous levels of the toxins under the new standard.  Dozens of water sources across Colorado previously thought to be safe would now violate the federal maximum contaminant level for PFAS, or toxic “forever chemicals,” under a new standard proposed Tuesday. March 14, 2023

Christopher Higgins recognized for PFAS research 3/14/2023

Christopher Higgins recognized for PFAS research

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins and PhD candidate Stefanie Shea were co-authors of paper honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers on on poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.  The winning paper detailed research on the use of bench-scale experiments to measure and evaluate the desorption rate kinetics from a vadose zone soil exposed decades ago to aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs).  March 14, 2023.

Aurora, other communities await first US limits on ‘forever chemicals’ spills at military sites 3/2/2023

Aurora, other communities await first US limits on ‘forever chemicals’ spills at military sites

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins  contributes to this article and states that “It is very clear there is PFOS and PFOA (on Buckley) and they are at orders of magnitude above the health advisory — which is really not a surprise, being that that is very typical for a foam-fire-fighting site.” He went on to add that this is a national-scale issue that is being addressed everywhere in the country. March 2, 2023.

Managing the future of water — in the West and beyond 2/2/2023

Managing the future of water — in the West and beyond

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Adrienne Marshall is among Mines alumni and researchers that are at the forefront of U.S. water management challenges, whether that’s through mitigation, water reuse, new water systems or alternative renewable energy systems. The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the southwestern U.S., with nearly 40 million Americans in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming relying on the Colorado River System for drinking water and to support farming and recreation. However, the Colorado River Basin water supply is dwindling, leading to water management challenges and an uncertain future of water in the West. February 2, 2023.

After years of contamination at Pittsburgh airport, nearby drinking water still hasn’t been tested 7/15/2022

After years of contamination at Pittsburgh airport, nearby drinking water still hasn’t been tested

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributed to this article about how the airport has known about the potential contamination on its property for years but hasn’t tested for it or taken steps to protect nearby residents. There are no laws requiring it to take action. Scientists say the airport’s $1.4 billion construction project could make the contamination problem worse.  July 15, 2022.

More than 8 million Illinoisans get drinking water from a utility where forever chemicals have been detected, Tribune investigation finds 7/12/2022

More than 8 million Illinoisans get drinking water from a utility where forever chemicals have been detected, Tribune investigation finds

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributed to this article about how something as simple as drinking tap water is exposing millions of Illinoisans to toxic chemicals that build up in human blood, cause cancer and other diseases and take years to leave the body.  Scientists call the chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. They are commonly known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment.  July 12, 2022.

Mines launches new research center with Peruvian partner university 5/24/2022

Mines launches new research center with Peruvian partner university

The Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Paul Santi, Director of the Mines Institute for Initiatives in Latin America, is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (UNT), located in Trujillo on the Pacific coast of northwest Peru.  This new collaboration agreement on May 9 to establish the Center for Research in Sustainable Resources (Centro para Investigación en Recursos Sostenibles) and to begin the first phase of collaborative research projects involving research teams and students based in the U.S. and in Peru.  May 24, 2022.