Environmental group wants more Chandler regulation of Intel
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Cynthia Diaz, an organizer for Arizona Jobs with Justice, speaks at a June 26 news conference in front of Chandler City Hall. Groups as are asking Chandler and other cities to hold companies like Intel to higher-than-federal standards when it comes to “forever chemicals” like PFAs.
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Steven Valencia, the founder and executive director of Arizona Jobs with Justice, speaks at a June 26 news conference in front of Chandler City Hall. Groups as are asking Chandler and other cities to hold companies like Intel to higher-than-federal standards when it comes to “forever chemicals” like PFAs.
A group that wants local governments to reign in what it calls ongoing pollution held a news conference June 26 in front of Chandler City Hall, begging the city and its leaders to be more proactive.
The handful of speakers and supporters, some carrying signs, said there should be no safe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, of PFAs, into any municipal waste system, no matter what metrics the EPA states are safe levels.
The speakers, claiming to represent about 11 labor and community groups, called on the city of Chandler to include protective measures against ubiquitous and persistent PFAS chemicals in Intel’s wastewater permit.
That annual permit expires at the end of June each year. Several speakers — a few of whom had emotional stories about family members who suffered a fatal or debilitating illness — spoke, encouraging the Chandler City Council to be more proactive.
City spokesperson Matt Burdick said he didn’t know the exact status of Intel’s 2025-26 city wastewater permit, but he did know that’s a type of permit approved administratively, as opposed to approval as part of a public hearing or meeting.
Jennifer Martin-McLeod, the Water Sentinels program manager for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said that for cities like Chandler denying a permit is not the only option.
“I have not heard a lot of local discussion about PFAs at all,” Martin-McLeod said. “They don’t have to wait for the feds to act. There’s a lot cities can do to address their polluters. It’s not only approve or reject. The city can ask itself ‘What do we ant the provisions of this permit to be?’ And then the city can put in action steps, such as the mitigation required if PFAs are detected.”
Martin-McLeod said bringing awareness to the concerns about PFAs is an ongoing effort.
“The timing might be kind of short for this year, but this is an annual renewal,” Martin-McLeod said. “But the timing of us being here now isn’t arbitrary. In the years ahead, city councils can direct staff to bring PFAs into the more public side of conversations.”
She said since EPA enforcement and rulemaking procedures sometimes change “on a dime” when new federal leadership is elected, that’s even more reason for cities to focus on what they can control.
“That’s why it’s important for bodies like (Chandler) to not wait, and to take action without waiting for the EPA,” Martin-McLeod said. “They don’t have to wait for federal legislation within their community.”
Spokespeople for the city of Chandler said elected and other officials have no statement on the group’s efforts or Intel’s permit at this time. Jeremy Abbott, the city’s assistant public works and utilities director, did provide some background on the Chandler’s recent efforts to follow EPA direction on PFAs.
In 2023, the city began testing its drinking water for 29 PFAS compounds as part of the EPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule program, or UCMR5, Abbott explained. Through that program, water systems collected data on a group of contaminants that were not regulated in drinking water at the federal level.
The results of those tests are reflected in Chandler’s 2023 Consumer Confidence Report, About said. The EPA took the data collected by water systems nationwide to determine new drinking water limits and future regulation.
Chandler has completed its water quality testing under UCMR5 and is currently compliant with all established maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs, adhering to current regulations and guidelines established by the EPA, Abbot said.
An announcement a new PFAS rule was made last year, while President Biden was still in office. Abbott said Chandler will continue to monitor as required to ensure that its drinking water continues to meet or exceed those 2024 standards.
He said the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, or ADEQ, has many resources about testing done in-state online at azdeq.gov/pfas-resources.
Assistant City Attorney Tawn Kao said the city does not have any history of litigation or legal challenges to its Industrial Pretreatment Program, including its handling of permits.
Industrial users who are subject to an industrial user permit issued by the city must comply with pretreatment standards or they could lose their permit to send wastewater to Chandler’s treatment system, she said.
An overview of Chandler’s Industrial Pretreatment Program and its regulatory authority can be found online at this link and at this link.
Kao said “Control authorities” are further covered online at this EPA link.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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