All cultures believe in the sanctity and necessity of water. In our state, a bipartisan effort to save our West Virginia waters from the deadly and pervasive PFAS (forever chemicals) is currently before our legislature.

According to West Virginia Public Radio, 130 of our drinking water supplies are impacted by PFAS. Unfortunately, our neck of the woods, the Eastern Panhandle, is a hot spot for infected water that will make many of us sick. Even more shocking, author David Andrews, one of the authors of an article in the journal Environmental Research, reported that PFAS levels in our wild freshwater fish “often exceeded an astounding 8,000 parts per trillion.” That’s more than 100 times the allowable limit for PFAS in drinking water!

PFAS never goes away naturally, and it causes a long list of severe health problems. It stays in the body forever, hence the moniker, “forever chemicals.”

Thankfully, Senate Bill 485, and House Bill 3189 are moving ahead. If passed, they would take some critical steps to start dealing with the PFAS problem in our state. The bills have strong bipartisan support and a dozen co-sponsors from both parties.

Please get in touch with your representatives now and express your support for this legislation. Water is life.

Jan Hafer, of Shepherdstown