"PFAS – The challenges of addressing emerging contaminants under a public spotlight"

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have captured the public’s attention and concern to a degree rarely seen for other emerging contaminants.  Unlike most environmental contaminants, many PFAS are not only environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative, but also highly water soluble and environmentally mobile.  As a result, they have the potential to contaminant large areas of groundwater and surface water.  Emissions of volatile precursor compounds that can transform and be deposited as terminal perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) have been shown to contaminate large areas, sometimes miles from their source, and are largely responsible for the global distribution of PFAS.  Recent discoveries of several high-profile contaminated sites, detections in drinking water supplies across the U.S. (and around the world), and nearly ubiquitous detections of PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS in humans and wildlife globally have resulted in an intense media spotlight on this class of chemicals.  The public and their elected officials are demanding action, while the science to inform such decisions is still rapidly evolving.  Environmental scientists in the public and private sector and academia are scrambling to define the full scope of the PFAS universe, identify and prioritize PFAS sources, understand their fate and transport in the environment, evaluate what risks they may actually pose, and determine when cleanup is required, to what level, and how to do it.  Without clear guidance at the national level, states are responding in a patchwork fashion, crafting their own guidance values, cleanup approaches, and risk communication messaging.  National professional organizations like ITRC and NGWA are publishing up-to-date technical information for environmental practitioners and providing opportunities for information sharing between states and across sectors that is accelerating knowledge transfer and may help create a convergence of response strategies.  The recent EPA Summit may also mark the beginning of increased information sharing and coordination.

8:30 a.m. Keynote
Virginia Yingling

9:15 a.m. Legal and Regulatory Framework Challenges in Consideration of Multiple Types of Uncertainties
Francois Lauzon, PE
9:35 a.m. Assessing the Liabilities of PFAS at a Site, and Prioritising your Resources
Douglas Smith
9:55 a.m. Expanding the Network: Considering More than just PFOA and PFOS & Adding Treatment to Existing Water Districts
Scott A. Grieco, Ph.D., PE

1:45 p.m. Conceptual Geochemical Model for Sorption and Desorption of PFAS
Peter Beck, Ph.D.
2:05 p.m. The Importance of Understanding Mass Distribution and Flux in Developing Remedial Strategies for PFAS Contamination
Peter Nadebaum, Ph.D.

8:30 a.m. How States/Governments are Addressing PFAS: The Global Perspective
Shalene Thomas

9:35 a.m. Accelerated Deployment and Startup of Ion Exchange Groundwater Treatment System Addresses PFAS Contamination at Australian Air Base
Steven Woodard, Ph.D., PE
9:55 a.m. Rapid Deployment of PFAS Removal System for Town Water Supply
Steven Woodard, Ph.D., PE
10:15 a.m. Lessons Learned from Three Years of Full-Scale PFAS Plume Management and Liquid GAC Groundwater Treatment
Dirk Pohlmann, PE
10:35 a.m. Break
10:55 a.m. Eliminating Risk of PFAS Contamination: Low Cost In Situ Remediation with Colloidal Activated Carbon
Scott Wilson