2023 Community of Human and Organizational Learning 29th Annual Conference

Harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are urgent public health and environmental issues facing communities across the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published the PFAS Strategic Roadmap in October 2021, committing the United States to bolder new policies to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and hold polluters accountable. USEPA committed to engage with communities in each USEPA Region to understand better their experiences and challenges in grappling with PFAS contamination.

So far, the pace has been slow and deliberate. USEPA's first new regulations related to two PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA, are six months overdue. Communications in neighborhoods potentially impacted by PFAS, such as East Palestine, Ohio, have been erratic.

The session will focus on how the East Palestine train wreck and similar incidents can affect water systems and the economy in our communities. Another early incident related to Chemours discharging PFAS into the Cape Fear River in North Carolina will be used to demonstrate how far our learning and communication have evolved over the past four years.

The learning objectives for the session are:
•    Understand harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their societal impacts.
•    Recognize limitations in our knowledge of PFAS dues to its complexities and uncertainties.
•    Apply techniques to communicate potential harm from PFAS in your communities.
•    Explore ways that assessment and communication related to East Palestine and Chemours incidents could have been handled differently.
•    Create awareness and learning opportunities related to PFAS relative to other issues that have human, economic, and environmental impacts on our lives.

The presentation is aimed at the beginner level and applies to the full range of conference participants.