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Dangerous PFAS chemicals add to Mississippi’s water woes

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1 year ago

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CORINTH – Crystal and Tim Dotson were spooked after watching “The Devil We Know,” a documentary about how the scarily named “forever chemicals” contaminated public soils and streams for decades.

Curious to know if the chemicals, also called PFAS, were affecting them, the Dotson decided to have their water tested. As they discovered, their water contained PFAs at levels much higher than what public health experts consider safe.

“It was staggering,” Crystal Dotson told Mississippi Today.

The revelation came from a study of Mississippi’s tap water — conducted by Consumer Reports in partnership with Mississippi Spotlight, a collaboration between Mississippi Today and other news partners — that tested samples from 149 connections around the state, including all 82 counties.

For years, PFAS were a staple of manufacturing consumer products because of their resilience to natural factors. In some cases, the chemicals are thought to never break down in the environment. Because of PFAS’ fortitude and widespread use, government studies have estimated that nearly every American has at least some trace of the chemicals in their bloodstream.

The Consumer Reports study echoed that concern: almost all of the samples tested – 98% – revealed some level of PFAS from the volunteers’ tap water. But, much like with other contaminants, there are varying opinions on what amount of PFAS people should be allowed to consume.

The Consumer Reports study also tested for heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead. Those results were mostly in line with standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which determines the legal level of contaminants allowed in public drinking water. The one exception was a sample in Carroll County, which exceeded the EPA’s action level for lead by 22 percent.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more research is needed to know what amount of PFAS is dangerous for humans to consume, studies show high concentrations can lead to reproductive issues, developmental effects, different types of cancer, and a weakened immune system.

The EPA has yet to regulate PFAS’ presence in drinking water, which means there’s no legal limit that local governments have to adhere to. In recent years the agency has put out a wide-range of recommended levels for PFAS consumption. Finally, earlier this year, the EPA began its process of creating a legal standard for the chemicals, proposing a limit of 4 ppt, or parts per trillion, for PFOS and PFOA, two of the more common types of PFAS.

Advocacy groups like the Environmental Working Group are far more wary, arguing that any amount of PFAS can be harmful for people to consume, as the chemicals can accumulate in a person’s body over time.

“We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of studies that show the linked health effects, and we know that no level of PFAS in your drinking water (is safe) because it affects the human body at such low levels,” said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at EWG.

Regardless of the standards, most would agree the level of PFAS in the Dotsons’ tap water in Corinth is unsafe. Their sample returned a “total PFAS” level – the sum of over 40 different types of the chemical – of 92 ppt. For reference, the International Bottled Water Association uses a limit of 10 ppt. Their levels for PFOS and PFOA were 11 ppt and 8 ppt, respectively, which are both at least twice the level of what the EPA is looking to enforce.

Tim and Crystal Dotson have a moment in their kitchen in Corinth, Miss., Friday, July 21, 2023. After tests were conducted on several homes in the town, the Dotson’s home proved to have the most evidence of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today

While it’s nearly impossible to specific health symptoms to water contamination, the Dotsons say they’ve encountered a myriad of concerns since moving to their Corinth home five years ago. Tim has suffered recent bouts with kidney disease, cancer, and high blood pressure, the latter two of which have been linked to PFAS.

The Dotsons and their four kids, who have lived in Corinth for 10 years, drink the tap water through a Brita filter, but standard filters like those can’t fully eliminate PFAS. Crystal and Tim, who both live off government disability payments, said they can’t afford more advanced filtration systems (For reference, both EWG and Consumer Reports have compiled lists of filters aimed at PFAS.).

(Consumer Reports has identified four water filters, including two pitchers and two under-sink models, that can help consumers filter out forever chemicals. EWG also has compiled a list of filters aimed at PFAS.)

While the couple were encouraged by recent settlements in civil litigation against manufacturers like DuPont and 3M, they’re scared of what the water might be doing to their family’s bodies.

“It’s the only water that we have,” Crystal said. “This is our home.”

John Rhodes, the general manager for Corinth’s water department, said he wasn’t aware of high PFAS levels within the city, largely because Mississippi has no testing requirements.

“Unless it’s something that’s regulated, I’m not going to be totally aware of it,” Rhodes said.

The Mississippi State Health Department, which regulates public water quality at the state level, cAfter scientists invented PFAS in the 1930s, manufacturers realized how valuable an ingredient it could be. The chemicals became widely used in tools like firefighting foam in the military, and in an array of consumer products like furniture stain repellents and non-stick cookware.onfirmed that it doesn’t test for PFAS. Liz Sharlot, spokesperson for MSDH, said the state doesn’t test for PFAS “based on past random test results not indicating its presence,” adding that more testing will likely happen in the coming years as federal funding becomes available.

About a decade ago, the EPA tested for PFAS in 80 Mississippi locations. While those results revealed no levels above “minimum reporting requirements,” the minimums were at least five times higher than what the EPA is currently proposing. In other words, those results have no bearing on whether they would’ve met the agency’s new standards.

After scientists invented PFAS in the 1930s, manufacturers realized how valuable an ingredient it could be. The chemicals became widely used in tools like firefighting foam in the military, and in an array of consumer products like furniture stain repellents and non-stick cookware.

But those manufacturers and the Department of Defense eventually learned of the dangers of PFAS to those who go near the chemicals. In 2018, ProPublica reported that both the government and manufacturers were slow to reveal the threat of PFAS to the public.

There’s limited knowledge of how widespread PFAS in Mississippi are. Just about a dozen states, Mississippi not included, are either regulating or proposing limits on PFAS in drinking water.

An EWG map of DOD data shows nine sites in the state where the military used firefighting foam containing PFAS. While the military is phasing out use of PFAS, the data from groundwater samples at those sites shows PFAS levels that, in some cases, were thousands of times higher than the limits the EPA is proposing.

Below are the full results from the Consumer Reports study:

This interactive data visualization was created by Enlighten Designs with support from the Microsoft Journalism Initiative and leveraging Microsoft Power BI and Excel.

As shown above, the samples with the highest levels of PFAS came from Corinth, Vaiden, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, Lexington, and Tchula.

Homeowners with some of the higher levels of PFAS offered a wide range of reactions, from concerned, to confused, to indifferent.

Shawn Harris, a banker in Hattiesburg who also runs the Piney Woods Conservation Group, wrote to the EPA urging it to enforce standards limiting PFAS. But even Harris, whose test results showed a total PFAS level of 9.6 ppt, said it’s puzzling trying to figure out what those numbers mean.

“It’s really hard to follow,” Harris said. “When I first got the results I was like, ‘Oh, dang, I’m good, but not that good.’”

Even though he drinks bottled water, he said he’s looking to get an under-the-sink filter for the tap water he gives his pets.

Other volunteers, though, were less concerned. Alan Wilson sent in a sample from his remote weekend home in Lexington, showing 43.4 ppt of total PFAS, one of the highest results in the study.

“When you think about 43 parts per trillion, that’s not much,” he said, adding that he didn’t know why there would be PFAS contamination given that there aren’t any businesses near the property. “So, no, I guess I don’t get too excited about it. It doesn’t scare me.”

It’s unclear how well or how soon local water utilities will be able to filter out PFAS. Once an EPA rule is finalized, utilities will have three years to come into compliance. Even then, many local systems are worried about the associated costs and having to pass on large rate hikes to customers.

The Dotson family believes that some of their medical conditions are a result of the Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, drinking water contamination at their home in Corinth, Miss., Friday, July 21, 2023. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today

Since learning what was in their tap water, the Dotsons have started drinking from store-bought bottles, costing them about $15 a week. Crystal said they started seeing improvements in Tim’s health within a week of the change. As for what happens next, she said she hopes for more accountability over the release of PFAS into public water sources.

“Somebody should go to jail over it,” Doston said. “They need to dissolve those companies and disperse that money to the people that were hurt.”

This investigation was conducted by Consumer Reports in partnership with Mississippi Spotlight, a collaboration between Mississippi Today, the Clarion Ledger and Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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On this day in 1958

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21 hours ago

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December 20, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-20 07:00:00

Dec. 20, 1958

Bruce Boynton played a key role in the U.S. Supreme Court case that led to the Freedom Riders protests of 1961. Credit: Jay Reeves/Associated Press

Bruce Boynton was heading home on a Trailways bus when he arrived in Richmond, Virginia, at about 8 p.m. The 21-year-old student at Howard University School of Law — whose parents, Amelia Boynton Robinson and Sam Boynton, were at the forefront of the push for equal voting rights in Selma — headed for the restaurant inside the bus terminal. 

The “Black” section looked “very unsanitary,” with water on the floor. The “white” section looked “clinically clean,” so he sat down and asked a waitress for a cheeseburger and a tea. She asked him to move to the “Black” section. An assistant manager followed, poking his finger in his face and hurling a racial epithet. Then an officer handcuffed him, arresting him for trespassing. 

Boynton spent the night in jail and was fined $10, but the law student wouldn’t let it go. Knowing the law, he appealed, saying the “white” section in the bus terminal’s restaurant violated the Interstate Commerce Act. Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed. “Interstate passengers have to eat, and they have a right to expect that this essential transportation food service,” Justice Hugo Black wrote, “would be rendered without discrimination prohibited by the Interstate Commerce Act.” 

A year later, dozens of Freedom Riders rode on buses through the South, testing the law. In 1965, Boynton’s mother was beaten unconscious on the day known as “Bloody Sunday,” where law enforcement officials beat those marching across the Selma bridge in Alabama. The photograph of Bruce Boynton holding his mother after her beating went around the world, inspiring changes in voting rights laws. 

He worked the rest of his life as a civil rights attorney and died in 2020.

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‘Something to be proud of’: Dual-credit students in Mississippi go to college at nation’s highest rate

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22 hours ago

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December 20, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Molly Minta – 2024-12-20 06:00:00

Mississippi high school students who take dual-credit courses go to college at the nation’s highest rate, according to a recent report. 

It’s generally true that students who take college classes while in high school attend college at higher rates than their peers. Earlier this year, a study from the Community College Research Center at Teacher’s College, Columbia University found that nationally, 81% of dual-credit students go to college. 

In Mississippi, that number shoots up to 93%, meaning the vast majority of the state’s high school students who take college classes enroll in a two- or four-year university. 

“When we did this ranking, boom, right to the top it went,” said John Fink, a senior research associate and program lead at the research center who co-authored the study. 

State officials say there’s likely no silver bullet for the high rate at which Mississippi’s dual-credit students enroll in college. Here, “dual credit” means a course that students can take for both high school and college credit. It’s different from “dual enrollment,” which refers to a high school student who is also enrolled at a community college. 

In the last 10 years, participation in these programs has virtually exploded among Mississippi high school students. In 2014, about 5,900 students took dual-credit courses in Mississippi, according to the Mississippi Community College Board. 

Now, it’s more than 18,000. 

“It reduces time to completion on the post-secondary level,” said Kell Smith, Mississippi C0mmunity College Board’s executive director. “It potentially reduces debt because students are taking classes at the community college while they’re still in high school, and it also just exposes high school students to what post-secondary course work is like.” 

“It’s something to be proud of,” he added. 

There are numerous reasons why Mississippi’s dual-credit courses have been attracting more and more students and helping them enroll in college at the nation’s highest rate, officials say. 

With a few college credits under their belt, students may be more inspired to go for a college degree since it’s closer in reach. Dual-credit courses can also build confidence in students who were on the fence about college without requiring them to take a high-stakes test in the spring. And the Mississippi Department of Education’s accountability model ensures that school districts are offering advanced courses like dual credit.

Plus, Mississippi’s 15 community colleges reach more corners of the state, meaning districts that may not be able to offer Advanced Placement courses can likely partner with a nearby community college.

“They’re sometimes like the only provider in many communities, and they’re oftentimes the most affordable providers,” Fink said.

Test score requirements can pose a barrier to students who want to take dual-credit courses, but that may be less of a factor in Mississippi. While the state requires students to score a 19 on ACT Math to take certain courses, which is above the state average, a 17 on the ACT Reading, below the state average of 17.9, is enough for other courses. 

Transportation is another barrier that many high schools have eliminated by offering dual-credit courses on their campuses, making it so students don’t have to commute to the community colleges to take classes. 

“They can leave one classroom, go next door, and they’re sitting in a college class,” said Wendy Clemons, the Mississippi Department of Education’s associate state superintendent for secondary education. 

This also means high school counselors can work directly with dual-credit students to encourage them to pursue some form of college.

“It is much less difficult to graduate and not go to college when you already possess 12 hours of credit,” Clemons said.

Word-of-mouth is just as key.

“First of all, I think parents and community members know more about it,” Clemons said, “They have almost come to expect it, in a way.” 

This all translates to benefits to students. Students who take dual-credit courses are more likely to finish college on time. They can save on student debt.

But not all Mississippi students are benefiting equally, Fink said. Thr research center’s report found that Black students in Mississippi and across the country were less likely to pursue dual-credit opportunities. 

“The challenge like we see in essentially every state is that who’s in dual enrollment is not really reflective of who’s in high school,” Fink said.

Without more study, it’s hard to say specifically why this disparity exists in Mississippi, but Fink said research has generally shown it stems from elitist beliefs about who qualifies for dual-credit courses. Test score requirements can be another factor, along with underresourced school districts. 

“The conventional thinking is (that) dual enrollment is just … another gifted-and-talented program?” Fink said. “It has all this baggage that is racialized … versus, are we thinking about these as opportunities for any high school student?”

Another factor may be the cost of dual-credit courses, which is not uniform throughout the state. Depending on where they live, some students may pay more for dual-credit courses depending on the agreements their school districts have struck with local community colleges and universities. 

This isn’t just an equity issue for students — it affects the institutions, too. 

“You know, we’ve seen that dual-credit at the community college level can be a double-edged sword,” Smith said. “We lose students who oftentimes … want to stay as long as they can, but there are only so many hours they can take at a community college. 

Dual-credit courses, which are often offered at a free or reduced price, can also result in less revenue to the college. 

“Dual credit does come at a financial price for some community colleges, because of the deeply discounted rates that they offer it,” Smith said. “The more students that you have taking dual-credit courses, the more the colleges can lose.” 

State officials are also working to turn the double-edged sword into a win-win for students and institutions. 

One promising direction is career-technical education. Right now, the vast majority of dual credit students enroll in academic courses, such as general education classes like Composition 1 or 2 that they will need for any kind of college degree. 

“CTE is far more expensive to teach,” Clemons said.

Smith hopes that state officials can work to offer more dual-credit career-technical classes. 

“If a student knows they want to enroll in career-tech in one of our community colleges, let’s load them up,” Smith said. “Those students are more likely to enter the workforce quicker. If you want to take the career-tech path, that’s your ultimate goal.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Ex-Capitol Police officer faces federal civil rights charge

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1 day ago

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December 19, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-12-19 18:25:00

A former Capitol Police officer has been accused of violating the civil rights of a handcuffed man whose head he slammed into the hood of a car and kicked in 2022. 

Jeffery Walker, a former officer with the Flex Unit, was in federal court Wednesday. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison for one charge of deprivation of rights under the color of law. 

The person Walker is accused of injuring is identified in court records as E.S. 

On July 27, 2022, Walker was on duty and driving an unmarked car when he tried to stop E.S.’s car, but E.S. did not pull over and led Walker on a chase, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. 

Three unnamed Jackson Police Department officers joined in the chase until Walker cut E.S. off, which caused Walker to hit a tree and E.S. to swerve into a yard. Walker and the JPD officers approached E.S.’s car, pulled him out, put him on the ground and handcuffed him. 

The indictment states Walker grabbed E.S. by the back of the neck and slammed his head into the car hood, before putting him back on the ground and kicking him in the head and face. 

Magistrate Judge Andrew Harris approved an unsecured $10,000 bond for Walker. 

Walker’s trial is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025 with U.s. District Judge Henry Wingate. 

The former Capitol Police officer also faces an excessive force lawsuit filed last year stemming from an incident that happened weeks after the 2022 incident. 

On Aug. 14, 2022, Sherita Harris was a passenger in a car driven by her friend. As the car waited for a traffic signal to turn green on State and Amite streets, the lawsuit alleges Walker and Capitol Police Officer Michael Rhinewalt approached the car from behind, turned on its emergency lights and directed the car to pull over. 

Shortly after the driver pulled over, Rhinewalt began to shoot into the car, according to the lawsuit. The driver fled to avoid bullets, but Harris was hit in the head and slumped over in her seat.

She was taken to the hospital where she had surgery to remove bullet fragments from her head, according to the lawsuit. The injuries left her with lingering issues including with her speech and cognitive abilities. 

As of December, the lawsuit remains active. The lawsuit seeks $3 million in damages, and the case is expected to go to trial in October 2025. 

The officers offered a different account. 

Walker was called as a witness in a September 2022 preliminary hearing for Sinatra Jordan, the driver of the car, who has been charged with fleeing law enforcement, assault of a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. 

NBC News reported about Walker’s testimony in which he said the car ran a red light and took off after the officers got out of their cruisers. Walker and Rhinewalt chased the car and said they heard gunshots coming from it and saw items thrown out of the window. 

The car crashed into a curb and they saw the driver with a black object in his hands, prompting them to return fire. 

Jordan remains at the Raymond Detention Center and is expected to go to trial in March 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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