This commentary is by Peggy Stevens, a retired teacher who lives in Charleston. On June 10, a panel of five experts in environmental pollutants, including PFAS, presented evidence of contamination in Lake Memphremagog’s water and fish to a packed crowd of 70 gathered at the North Country Caree r Center, with a further 95 people joining online.  As the scientists laid out their concerns about what that means for the lake’s future, the question driving the meeting was whether landfill leachate, treated or not, should be permitted to be discharged into the Memphremagog watershed. Lake Memphremagog is a drinking water reservoir for 200,000 Quebec residents in the municipalities of Sherbrooke and Magog, Potton and St. Benoit du Lac. Elected officials in nine municipalities around the international lake, including Derby, Newport City and Newport Town, have voted unanimously to support a joint statement and H.652, both of which would prohibit leachate discharge, treated or not, into the watershed.  The panel reinforced the importance of understanding the risks associated with contaminants and their movement through the environment. Data from research in Quebec and Bennington shows contamination occurs as airborne PFAS in landfill gas or smokestacks fall on soils and enter ground and surface water, or via deliberately discharged leachate. It also showed that drinking water contamination occurs in communities near landfills and airports. READ MORE Environmental protection is not the only concern. Contamination in the Memphremagog watershed is also an issue of environmental injustice. According to New England Waste Services of Vermont’s monthly tonnage reports, the watershed contributes less than 4% of the total annual tonnage of waste disposed of at the Coventry landfill. Yet nearly 100% of the leachate is generated by waste from other regions of Vermont and out of state.  Even if no leachate were ever discharged again into the watershed, the environmental fallout from PFAS and other contaminants in air and leachate emissions will continue to threaten and contaminate our lake region for decades. The environment and every living creature in it, including humans, are at risk. It is only fair that leachate be exported to the regions that are responsible for creating most of it. Current leachate treatment experimentation on site in Coventry is not sufficient or up to the standards achievable by existing technology. The state regulatory agency, the Agency of Natural Resources, must require that leachate treatment meet the strictest standards achievable by state-of-the-art leachate treatment, destroying PFAS captured in the process. Currently, captured PFAS are being returned to the landfill. This goes against the Environmental Protection Agency’s and manufacturer’s recommendations to destroy the residuals or dispose of them in a certified hazardous waste facility, which Coventry is not. Strict treatment standards would protect other water bodies outside of the Memphremagog watershed that will receive leachate discharge in the future, including Lake Champlain. It is only through legislation like H.652 and responsible regulations required by the state that we can combat the threat of landfill leachate contamination of our precious natural resources. Over the past year, the growing coalition among elected officials, citizens, community organizations and scientists has demonstrated a shared commitment to protecting the lake and its drinking water. I believe that, by continuing to work together, we will be successful in passing legislation next session to provide environmental protection and justice to the communities in the Lake Memphremagog watershed. Read the story on VTDigger here: Don’t gamble with our drinking water. ...read more read less