As the Trump administration moves to rescind regulations on so-called forever chemicals, Alaska lawmakers hope to create a separate, stricter set of state standards.

PFAS chemicals are durable, water-soluble compounds that have long been used in both consumer and industrial products for their non-stick and water-resistant properties.

Usage in firefighting foams in particular has led to widespread soil contamination around the state, including at Haines’ Tanani Point Tank Farm and fuel terminal, formerly the southern end of the Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline. Research in recent decades has linked PFAS exposure to cancer and a range of chronic illnesses. 

Bills in each chamber of the state Legislature, HB 235 and SB 219, would mandate state testing of all public water systems and require those systems to show near-zero concentrations of PFAS. Those concentration limits would replicate the Biden-era federal limits that the Trump administration has since moved to rescind.

The legislative effort is a new regulatory tack, following years of fluctuating guidance from executive-branch agencies at the state and federal level. If the state-specific standards are put into place, it would force a change to current Dunleavy administration policy of fixing PFAS policy to federal guidelines. 

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), through spokesperson Sam Dapcevich, said last week it does not take official positions on pending legislation. 

But in recent years, Dunleavy’s administration has been accused by some of resisting a shift to safer standards. 

In testimony on the bill last month, Alaska Community Action on Toxics director Pamela Miller referred to a “failure to act” by the state regarding PFAS drinking-water regulation. 

“It’s just not acceptable to allow for these delays, because people are continuing to be exposed to dangerous levels,” Miller said in an interview last week. 

State PFAS regulations were set to tighten in 2018 under Dunleavy’s predecessor, Gov. Bill Walker. Walker’s policy proposed setting a limit for the total concentrations of five different PFAS compounds in public drinking water. 

The following year, when Dunleavy came into office, DEC cut the policy down to only consider total concentrations of two of those compounds toward the limit. One DEC contaminated sites program manager wrote at the time that the change went “against our responsibility as environmental and health professionals to ensure the drinking water of Alaskans is safe,” according to an internal memo. 

That policy stood through 2023, when then-DEC commissioner Jason Brune pledged to implement new, stronger state standards, indicating the change would happen that year. 

But new standards never came, and DEC staff now says their official policy is to follow the limits set by the federal government. 

There’s disagreement on what that means. 

Previous federal guidelines set a limit of 70 parts per trillion for the sum of two compounds. Two years ago, the Biden administration dropped allowable concentrations for a wider range of PFAS compounds to levels near zero. 

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, who represents Haines, is a cosponsor of the Senate’s version of the PFAS bill. He said this week he believes the state is currently regulating at the looser, 70 parts per trillion level. Multiple people testifying during committee discussion on the bill reiterated that idea, that the state is currently using the looser regulations.

But in an email this week, Dapcevich said DEC is following the stricter, Biden-era standards. Those standards are also listed on DEC’s website.

The near-zero Biden-era levels are aligned with what scientists and advocates have told legislators in recent months, citing research showing no safe level of PFAS exposure. Even trace amounts, they say, can have major health consequences. 

If the state continues to stick with federal guidelines, however, the stricter regulatory regime will be short-lived. Last year, the Trump administration announced an intent to rescind federal limits on four of six major PFAS compounds. It also announced an intent to extend the compliance deadline for limits on the two remaining compounds from 2029 to 2031. 

Last year, it said those changes would be finalized this spring. 

DEC staff have been reticent to speak about PFAS regulation. Dapcevich said last week the department would not make any staff available for interviews on the topic of PFAS and said it would only provide written answers to written questions. The head of the department’s drinking water program, Cindy Christian, did not respond to multiple messages requesting information about testing in Haines. 

The agency, along with the Department of Transportation, has answered questions from legislators on the senate version of the bill, including providing cost estimates. According to those estimates, the bill would add $19 million to the state budget for next year, and around $10.5 million long term. 

Some of those costs would come from increased testing. There are also provisions in the bill that would make the state liable for contamination from public facilities. That would require the state to provide clean drinking water and testing to individuals affected by state contamination, even if they had private wells. 

“When you know it’s toxic and you know it’s in Alaska’s water, it’s irresponsible not to do something about it,” Kiehl said in an interview this week. 

Even so, for Haines, it doesn’t appear the bill would have much of an immediate local impact.

According to state testing in 2024 of the Lilly Lake and Piedad water treatment plants, the borough’s public water system is currently clear of PFAS. The testing included all six compounds covered under the strictest version of the federal standards, borough records show. Borough water and sewer director Dennis Durr said last week that the borough’s water system is set to undergo another round of voluntary state PFAS testing this month. 

The public water main, however, only stretches out Lutak Road as far as the Haven Court neighborhood. At least some lots in the area next to the tank farm draw from groundwater. In at least one location outside the tank farm fence — the public beach below the site — testing has found groundwater runoff to have PFAS levels above the allowed drinking water limits. 

The state, however, is not planning to test private wells in the area regardless of whether either of the bills pass. 

For one, the site cleanup project is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army and has not included testing toward homes south of the property, said Greg Rutkowski, of Brice Engineering, the federal contractor testing the site. 

Dapcevich said the state “may become involved” with testing private wells if they’re believed to be exposed to contamination. However, “based on current data,” he wrote in an email, the state does not believe the nearby Tanani Point homes are at risk. 

Miller said last week Alaska Community Action on Toxics  would provide free testing kits to interested residents. 

Eliminating the source of the contamination at Tanani Point also looks to be far off.  Brice Engineering is currently mapping PFAS levels around the site, and Rutkowski said last week the mapping is expected to be finished and made public in July. 

Once that evaluation is complete, Brice would have to conduct yet another study, this time on the viability of different cleanup methods, before actually conducting any soil remediation. Both that study and the cleanup itself remain unfunded. 

The property has been slated by the Department of Defense to be transferred to the Chilkoot Indian Association, but only once cleanup is fully complete. In 2010, the Department of Defense estimated cleanup would be complete and the land would be transferred by 2013. Currently, there is no estimated date for full cleanup. The state legislative bills also face uncertain prospects. Both have only been heard by one committee, and even if passed would still have to make it across the Governor’s desk. Dunleavy in 2023 vetoed a bill to ban the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foams. The following year, Dunleavy allowed an altered version to pass his desk into law without a veto, but also without his signature.

“This reporting from the State Capitol was made possible by the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism’s Legislative Reporter Exchange. Alaska news outlets, please contact [email protected] to republish this story.”