January 24, 2025

California wildfires, PFAS risk assessment & EPA administrator hearing

17 minutes

In this episode of Talking Under Water the hosts discuss recent industry news including the nomination hearing for Lee Zeldin, whom President Trump is seeking to lead the U.S. EPA; the California wildfires, including the Palisades and Eaton fires along with others that began between January 22 and January 23; and the release of EPA’s risk assessment of PFAS in sewage sludge. This draft risk assessment, which is now available for public comment, hones in specifically on two PFAS chemicals: Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid (PFOS).

Show Notes:

PFAS & funding dominate EPA admin nomination hearing

How Southern California transformed into a ‘tinderbox’

Mike McNutt of Las Virgenes Municipal Water District discusses California wildfires

From ABC 7 Eye Witness News: With rain on the way, crews race to protect Eaton Fire areas from threat of mudslides

From The Guardian: These are the hazards Californians face after fires – and what homeowners can do to protect themselves

Fire recovery efforts from the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Five takeaways from the EPA's draft sewage sludge risk assessment for PFOA and PFOS

White House clarifies funding freeze

Timestamps:

Introduction and summary | 1:03

EPA Administrator Nominee Led Zeldin's career and political history | 2:40

Key takeaways from Lee Zeldin's EPA nomination hearing | 4:56

Impact of California wildfires on drinking water systems | 6:33

California wildfire recovery efforts | 8:57

U.S. EPA releases risk assessment for PFOA and PFOS in sewage sludge | 12:55

Housekeeping | 16:14

Resources:

WWD YouTube

WaterWorld Videos

StormCon Registration

Stormwater Solutions videos

About the podcast

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.  

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media. 

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