Flooding In Agricultural Areas During Certain Times Of The Year Lets PFAS Leak Into Aquifers More Easily

Heavy seasonal flooding in farming areas is driving dangerous PFAS chemicals deep into the soil and groundwater that people consume

Sunday, August 17, 2025 - During seasonal floods, a new and mostly hidden threat emerges in areas of the United States where there are farms: harmful PFAS compounds leak from soils and farm waste into deep underground aquifers. In places where flooding happens frequently, like during the spring melt or strong summer rains, fields that have soaked up biosolids or irrigation water with PFAS become a primary way for these chemicals to get into groundwater. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, don't break down quickly, so they can seep through moist, loose soils and build up in the aquifers that supply well water to nearby towns. More and more rural families and farm laborers depend on private wells, which aren't typically tested or regulated on a regular basis. In certain places, tests have already shown PFAS levels that are higher than what the federal government says is safe for health. Legal experts say that these ways of spreading contamination could lead to more water contamination lawsuits, especially in farming areas that didn't know they were using biosolids or irrigation water that contained PFAS. A PFAS water contamination lawyer said that a lot of the homes and farms that were damaged could be part of a PFAS drinking water case if it can be established that runoff or fertilizer inputs caused the contamination.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), floods can considerably speed up the flow of PFAS into groundwater systems, especially in locations with sandy or porous soil. The agency has seen more PFAS in water samples obtained from wells near agricultural terrain that is prone to flooding. Because of these results, environmental scientists are now calling for quick monitoring of groundwater in rural areas, especially where biosolid fertilizers or reclaimed water have been used in the last few years. People say that biosolids are a cheap way to nourish plants, however, they typically still have PFAS in them from treating industrial wastewater. When these chemicals are put on soil and then a big flood happens, the water can act like a conveyor, carrying PFAS deeper into the ground, past plant roots, and right into aquifers. Municipal water systems are starting to use filters to get rid of PFAS, but most private wells don't have these kinds of precautions. At the same time, the federal government doesn't do much to help with well testing, so homeowners have to pay for both testing and treatment. Legal experts think that this lack of control might be a big deal in PFAS lawsuits, especially if people in rural areas can show that their health was harmed by contamination events that should have been avoided. Some farming areas are looking at flood control structures again, not just to protect crops but also to keep chemicals from getting out. The link between seasonal floods and PFAS moving into groundwater is bad news for rural communities that rely on clean well water.

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