THE Environmental Natural Resources Organization of Northern Marianas College invites the community to a public seminar on polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS in the CNMI’s water supply on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at the American Memorial Park indoor theater.
The speaker is CDR Travis Spaeth, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality’s chief engineer and safe drinking water manager.
ENRO President Mark “Anufat” Pangelinan said Spaeth will speak on the history of the CNMI’s PFAS buildup and “what’s being done locally and nationally to address this critical environmental health issue.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are “widely used, long lasting chemicals, [the] components of which break down very slowly over time.”
The chemicals are found “in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products,” EPA stated.
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. However, EPA is not sure “how harmful PFAS are to people and the environment.”
For more information about the seminar, email enroclub@gmail.com/.
