The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality says it will continue efforts to monitor water for PFAS contamination in six key sites around the state. The humanmade chemicals have been linked to health issues like cancer.
PFAS are widely used in industrial and commercial goods — but they don’t break naturally and exposure at certain levels pose health hazards.
ADEQ says it received $5 million from Gov. Katie Hobbs, part of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The money will be used to further existing efforts to investigate the prevalence of PFAS around the state.
Agency Director Karen Peters says groundwater will be sampled at six high priority sites found to contain PFAS in previous investigations. The team will also collect samples of surface water and fish tissue.
Last month, the EPA updated its list of PFAS that will be federally monitored in groundwater — dropping four of the six chemicals originally listed in 2024.
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The Senate bill proposes selling or dispersing more than 120 million acres of Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land in Arizona and 10 other states. Lawmakers say the land could be sold to be used for affordable housing.
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Beyond being seen and heard in the negotiating room where water decisions are handled, tribes are also having to navigate unprecedented institutional shifts from the Biden administration back to Trump that, in turn, potentially hinder their sovereignty.
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Proponents say the land would be used for much-needed housing, but environmental groups say eligible areas could include those treasured by communities in the Mountain West.
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Fisher Sand & Gravel will get roughly $309 million to wall off some 27 miles of the San Rafael Valley. It’s a biodiversity hotspot that houses two international rivers and cross-border species like the jaguar.
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Navajo tribal officials announced the first steps in restoring some land previously used for uranium ore mining on the Navajo Nation.