Dianne R Phillips is Partner in Holland &
Knight's
Boston office
Meaghan A Colligan is Associate in Holland &
Knight's
Washington D.C. office
By way of background, in 2016 the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) listed two long-chain per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—PFOA and PFOS—as
hazardous substances. However, NYSDEC did not publish a remedial
standard for PFOA or PFOS at the same time. Instead, beginning in
the spring of 2018, the NYSDEC began collecting information
regarding the extent and scope of PFOA and PFOS, and 19 additional
PFAS compounds, at existing and new state Superfund and Brownfield
Cleanup Program (BCP) sites across New York State. Existing sites
were informed via letter, rather than through a public rulemaking
process, that they were required to perform groundwater sampling
for these emerging contaminants using the United States
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Method 537.1 for a target
analyte
