The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced several new actions to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Dec. 11.
PFAS are manufactured "forever chemicals" that were introduced in the 1940s. These chemicals do not break down in the environment and present health risks including developmental delays in children, reproductive issues and some cancers.
The DEC said it is bolstering its efforts to "protect, educate and assist New York communities in addressing the ubiquitous threat of PFAS contamination.”
“They're in water and air and soil, and they're present in countless consumer products and foods due to their use in making materials resistant to water, grease and stains,” said DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. “Exposure is widespread because they are found in everyday items like nonstick cookware, food packaging, stain resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and many industrial processes.”
Lefton said the agency is making PFAS removal and prevention a priority.
“The wastewater treatment plan guidance, the rural background study finalization, the biosolids product sampling and private water supply policy proposals will help provide DEC with critically important data and help inform New York State's next steps to prevent PFAS exposure and protect public health,” Lefton said.
The rural background study details how widespread PFAS are in the state.
Surface soil sampling was conducted in multiple locations across the 19th, 23rd and 24th congressional districts by the DEC’s Division of Environmental Remediation. Sampling sites were identified in Tompkins, Delaware and Broome counties. Cortland, Chenango, Tioga, Schuyler and Steuben counties had two or more soil sites used for sampling. The report did not include results specific to these locations.
Statewide, the DEC found that PFAS concentrations were similar to other states including Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The two most prevalent PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), were found in nearly every sample.
According to the DEC, PFOS was found in 97 percent of the surface soil samples. PFOA was found in 76.5 percent. However, the agency said it “does not expect the background soil concentrations to significantly contribute to contamination of groundwater or surface water.”
Water supply
Lefton said there is a “new program to support testing of water supply to address PFAS.”
The DEC Division of Environmental Remediation (DER) proposes creating guidelines to provide an alternate water supply when “individual water supplies are impacted by contamination associated with a designated DER program remedial site or a contaminant spill addressable under DEC statutory authority.”
Public comments regarding the alternate water supply provision are open until Feb 10, 2026.
PFAS are “probably the most challenging chemical contamination issue of our time,” said Gary Ginsberg, Director for the New York Department of Health Center for Environmental Health.
State agencies including the DEC, DOH and the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) are designing a rebate pilot program in 2026 for some private well owners affected by PFAS in their drinking water.
There are approximately one million private wells in New York. The DEC and DOH have tested 5,000 wells in the last decade.
Ginsberg said the private well testing program will begin at the beginning of the year.
“[It] is going to be very piloted and strategic at the parts of the state where the 5,000 wells that have already been tested and through various other kinds of investigations, we know [are] potentially most vulnerable to PFAS groundwater contamination,” said Ginsberg.
It is not clear where the 5,000 private wells are located. WSKG reached out to the DOH and did not hear back in time for publication.
The DEC guidelines or Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for PFAS in drinking water are 10 parts per trillion (ppt). In 2024, Ginsberg told WSKG that that amounts to the "equivalent of ten drops of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.”
He also said that the state is trying to minimize the safety risks to the “greatest extent possible.”
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) enforceable MCLs are 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS. That is six points below what New York deems a safe threshold. However, the federal agency’s Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for these two PFAS pollutants is zero.
The MCLs are federal policy for public health purposes, however, MCLGs are EPA guideline goals but are not enforceable.
Biosolids
DEC Environmental Engineer Molly Trembley said the agency is also issuing a new interim policy, specifically for products made from biosolids, such as compost and heat-dried pellets. These are known as Class A biosolids.
"Under this policy, all permitted facilities that produce biosolids-derived soil amendment products in New York state, and also any entities importing these products into New York state must conduct PFAS sampling and analyses using approved, updated sampling methods," said Trembley.
The sampling and analysis results will be made available to the public, according to Trembley.
Biosolids—also called “sewage sludge”—are a combined human and industrial waste that is used as a type of fertilizer or soil amendment by farms in a process called land application, or landspreading. These are known as Class A and Class B type biosolids.
Some distinctions between Class A and Class B biosolids include the level of pathogens in the finished product and the treatment for contaminants during the process. Class B biosolids are also subject to certain restrictions based on site usage, according to the EPA.
Trembley said there are approximately 30 permitted biosolids recycling centers in New York that produce Class A biosolids products. The state also accepts these types of products from 10 distributors in neighboring states.
“When they come in as Class A, they are a finished product, allowed to do what they want,” said Trembley. “This policy will have them testing for those PFAS compounds. If they do not meet those [testing criteria], they will no longer be able to distribute them in New York State.”
Sixteen percent of total biosolids that are produced in the state each year are used in landspreading, heat drying, composting and mine reclamation, according to data from the DEC. Landfills take in approximately 68 percent of biosolids produced annually. Approximately 375,000 dry tons of biosolids are produced annually in the state.
The towns of Thurston and Cameron in Steuben County are the only places in the state to have banned the practice of landspreading sewage sludge outright. It is also banned in both Maine and Connecticut as well.
A five-year moratorium on landspreading and the sale and distribution of sewage sludge passed in the New York state Senate last summer, but sat awaiting a vote in the state assembly.
Public comments for the new DEC policy on products made from biosolids are open until Jan. 9, 2026.
Wastewater treatment plants and landfills
The DEC also finalized new guidance about how to collect PFAS information from wastewater treatment plants and address sources of contamination in wastewater.
The agency is slated to develop regulations that require the treatment of leachate from active municipal solid waste landfills as well as active construction and demolition debris landfills.
Leachate is a substance produced by the decomposition of materials in a landfill. It can contain contaminants such as PFAS.
Lefton said DEC programs are driven by science as well as working with communities affected by PFAS pollution such as in Rensselaer and Orange counties. The actions taken by the DEC highlight the prevalence of PFAS in the state.
“They help fill the bigger picture of contaminants that are no longer emerging, but they're here for the long haul,” Lefton said.
A newly launched website dedicated to PFAS resources, investigations and actions by the DEC is now available to the public.
