None of this much-needed progress to protect communities and residents statewide will be possible without partnering with the private sector. In recent years, my company, Parsons, has expanded its environmental research, development, and treatability study lab in Syracuse, which has focused on and invested in the treatment of water contaminants for more than three decades including emerging contaminants like PFAS. The research conducted at this lab is producing technological breakthroughs that will accelerate the fight to detect, address, treat, and eventually eliminate forever chemicals across the state, nation, and globe.
Parsons is also working with the DEC to support the Inactive Landfill Initiative. This $23 million, first-of-its-kind program addresses critical drinking water contamination concerns associated with emerging contaminants from inactive landfills, including PFAS compounds and other chemicals.
Partnerships like these are how we eradicate the threat posed by forever chemicals once and for all. Federal agencies, Congress, state governments and the private sector must take a page from New York’s playbook and work in lockstep to address this threat. Our combined talents and resources can have a far greater impact than when we act alone.