Representatives from Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality presented the latest information on arsenic and PFAS chemicals, their distribution in our groundwater, and the treatment technologies proposed for assuring our long-term health.

CWAG Science Committee Chair Dr. Peter Kroopnick will host the panel of speakers: Tracy Lund, Water Resources Advisor for the Town of Prescott Valley, Prescott City Attorney Joe Young, Mark Holmes representing Chino Valley, and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Engineer, Drinking Water Division, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. 

Within the tri-city area we depend completely on groundwater for our household use. A known groundwater quality issue has been arsenic from naturally occurring sources that in some cases exceed the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), e.g., forcing the City of Prescott, Town of Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley to either perform treatment or blend water from their supply wells. But in just the last few years, a new human-caused water quality threat has emerged, i.e., PFAS chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that are also known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t readily degrade in the environment and can accumulate in the bodies of humans and animals.

These chemicals, existing in several thousand forms, are found in hundreds of household items and are used in numerous industrial products as well as fire-fighting foam. Common products containing PFAS include nonstick cookware, outdoor gear water-resistant fabrics, cosmetics, dental floss, toilet paper, stain-resistant coatings used on carpet and upholstery, dishwasher and laundry detergents, wall paint, Teflon tape, and even food wrappers and pizza boxes.

The City of Prescott has shut down its major producing well at the airport due to PFAS contamination and the Town of Prescott Valley has shut down four wells for detected quantities of PFAS chemicals. Both Prescott and Prescott Valley have discovered PFAS in their sewage effluent used for recharge.

For background information, there is an interesting story about PFAS contamination from the Dupont Parkersberg plant that sickened and killed a farmer's cows and contaminated drinking water along the Ohio River: Robert Bilott: Exposure : poisoned water, corporate greed, and one lawyer's twenty-year battle against DuPont