Interim Deadline for Michigan PFAS Program Extended

A little extra time has been added to the clock for wastewater plants seeking an extension for water quality reporting in Michigan. Due to a new landfill leachate sampling initiative, municipal Industrial Pretreatment Programs (IPPs) in Michigan now have until May 8, 2018 to submit an extension request to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for preparing an interim report on the IPP’s PFAS investigation, sampling, and source reduction efforts. In a February 2018 letter to wastewater treatment plants that have IPPs, MDEQ announced it is requiring all such plants to:

• Evaluate potential PFAS sources;
• Investigate probable sources;
• Reduce or eliminate any sources found; and
• Take other action as needed to protect surface water quality.

An interim report to the MDEQ on these efforts is due by June 29, 2018 unless the IPP submits for an extension.  The deadline for submitting an extension request was May 1, 2018, but in an April 18, 2018 follow-up letter to IPPs, MDEQ extended the deadline for one week to allow IPPs with landfill dischargers to evaluate whether they need more time to consider a new sampling initiative being coordinated by the Waste Management and Radiological Protection Division (WMRPD). According to the MDEQ letter, “The WMRPD is developing a plan in coordination with the landfill industry to assist them with evaluating, minimizing, and treating PFAS in their leachate, if necessary.” This initiative is being undertaken to address the circular concern that treatment plants have a safe place to dispose of biosolids if they contain PFAS and, in turn, that landfills can discharge leachate to plants if it contains PFAS. 

• RELATED TOPICS
• IPP
• landfills
• PFAS