Day: December 19, 2021

#PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ constantly cycle through ground, air and #water, study finds: The Stockholm University study highlights the chemicals’ mobility, which has been found in penguin eggs and polar bears — The Guardian

Polar bear. Photo credit: Eric Regehr, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From The Guardian (Tom Perkins):

Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the ocean are transported from seawater to air when waves hit the beach and that phenomenon represents a significant source of air pollution, a new study from Stockholm University has found.

The findings, published in Environmental Science & Technology, also partly explain how PFAS get into the atmosphere and eventually precipitation. The study, which collected samples from two Norwegian sites, also concludes that the pollution “may impact large areas of inland Europe and other continents, in addition to coastal areas”.

“The results are fascinating but at the same time concerning,” said Bo Sha, a Stockholm University researcher and study co-author…

The study highlights the chemicals’ mobility once they’re released into the environment: PFAS don’t naturally break down, so they continuously move through the ground, water and air and their longevity in the environment has led them to be dubbed “forever chemicals”. They have been detected in all corners of the globe, from penguin eggs in Antarctica to polar bears in the Arctic.

The Stockholm research team collected aerosol samples between 2018 and 2020 from Andøya, an Arctic island, and Birkenes, a city in southern Norway. It found correlating levels of PFAS and sodium ions, which are markers of sea spray. The chemicals’ transfer occurs when air bubbles burst as waves crash, and the study found that PFAS can travel thousands of kilometers via sea spray in the atmosphere before the chemicals return to land.

Some regulators and the chemical industry have long claimed that dumping PFAS into the ocean is an appropriate disposal method because it dilutes the waste to a safe level. The study concluded that the approach isn’t safe because the chemicals are returned to land, which can pollute drinking water sources, among other issues.

“The common belief was that PFAS would eventually wash off into the oceans where they would stay to be diluted over the timescale of decades,” said Matthew Salter, a co-author of the study and researcher at Stockholm University. “But it turns out that there’s a boomerang effect, and some of the toxic PFAS are re-emitted to air, transported long distances and then deposited back onto land.”

Upper #SanJuanRiver #snowpack report — The #PagosaSprings Sun #ColoradoRiver #COriver #aridification


From The Pagosa Springs Sun (Clayton Chaney):

Snow report

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Water and Climate Center’s snow pack report, the Wolf Creek summit, at 11,000 feet of elevation, had 8.2 inches of snow water equivalent as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 15.

That amount is 79 percent of that date’s median snow water equivalent.

San Miguel, Dolores, Animas, and San Juan Basin High/Low graph December 16, 2021 via the NRCS.

The San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basins were at 80 percent of the Dec. 15 median in terms of snow pack.

That figure is up nearly 50 percent from the Dec. 8 report.

Westwide SNOTEL basin-filled map December 19, 2021 via the NRCS.

Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners consider funding request for south Yamaguchi Park — The #PagosaSprings Sun #SanJuanRiver

Yamaguchi South Planning Project site layout via the City of Pagosa Springs.

From The Pagosa Springs Sun (Clayton Chaney):

During a work session held by the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) on Dec. 7, the board heard from Al Pfister with the Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Program (WEP) in regard to a matching fund request for the south Yamaguchi Park project.

The WEP is requesting $10,000 in matching funds. The funds would come from the county’s Conserva- tion Trust Fund (CTF), which can only be used for outdoor recreation purposes.

The total cost of the project is estimated at just over $664,000, with more than $500,000 coming from the grant.

The WEP needs a 25 percent cash match, or just over $166,000 to be awarded the grant.

Pfister explained the WEP is a stakeholder group that was formed to develop a stream management plan for the upper San Juan River basin…

He explained the WEP is working under the Colorado Water Plan and the Southwest Basin Roundtable Implementation Plan (SWBIP), “which sets the framework for how water issues are going to be addressed throughout the state.”

He mentioned that, currently, the SWBIP is being revised and should be coming out for public comment in January 2022.

As part of that plan, the WEP is applying for a matching grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), Pfister noted…

He explained that the project objectives are to enhance the recreational experience for both anglers and river enthusiasts, improve pub- lic access to recreational features, improve fish habitat quality and pro- mote sediment movement through this section of the San Juan River.

“Everybody in the county is going to see some benefit from it, even if they don’t get in the river,” Commissioner Alvin Schaaf said.

During a work session held by the BoCC on Dec. 14, County Attorney/ Interim Administrator Todd Weaver indicated that the county does have sufficient funds in its CTF to commit $10,000 to the WEP out of the 2021 budget.

He noted the BoCC will likely vote on the matter at its next regular meeting scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 21at 398 Lewis St., in the commissioners’ room.