Washington State develops SALs to protect the health of drinking water consumers from contaminants that are not federally regulated. The PFAS SALs are public health goals for lifetime consumption of water, including by sensitive populations. When tap water exceeds a SAL, the State Department of Health recommends that the water system take action to bring the level below the SALs for long-term drinking.

On April 10, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final federal rule that newly regulates the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for six PFAS contaminants in drinking water. The EPA PFAS Standards are expected to replace the Washington State PFAS Standards when approved by the Washington State Board of Health. Water systems must complete initial monitoring by 2027, inform the public of results, and implement solutions to reduce PFAS if levels exceed the limits by 2029.

The monitoring and remediation requirements for PFAS set forth by DOH and EPA are specific to Group A water systems only, which are defined as water systems with 15 or more water connections. Group B water systems, which are defined as water system with less than 15 water connections, are regulated by the local county and currently do not have PFAS monitoring or remediation requirements.

Thurston PUD was an early implementor of PFAS testing and identified the water systems that detect PFAS before testing was done by most other municipalities. Largely because of this proactive approach to identifying the presence of PFAS, Thurston PUD was approved for funding with principal loan forgiveness through the Washington State Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to install treatment systems to remove PFAS from the drinking water at water systems above EPA’s MCL. The customers on these water systems have been notified by letter of the detected PFAS and our plan to install treatment before the required date of 2029.

In 2025, Assistant General Manager, Julie Parker successfully entered into PFAS cost recovery court cases against national PFAS polluters. As of October 22, 2025, the PUD is approved for an allocation of settlement funds from 3M, estimated at $1,121,660.35, with disbursements from 2025 to 2033. To date, the PUD has received $530,381.22 of the approved settlement funds. The Board may use these monies to further pursue financial recovery for ongoing and future PFAS costs from the polluters. All claim settlement funds received will be used to pay for PFAS related expenses only.

Although the PUD has submitted claims to the polluters to get them to pay for all pollution costs; so far, the one-time claim settlements will not be enough to cover the projected ongoing PFAS expenses. The PUD must plan and budget for the annual PFAS O&M and Media Replacement costs, averaging $173,524. The annual cost to cover these expenses over 20 years is $1.78 per month per Group A water system customer.

Starting, January 1, 2026, all Group A water system customers will be charged the new EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation Surcharge of $1.78. The surcharge collections will be kept in the EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation Fund separate from the other District funds. The surcharges collected will be used only to pay for PFAS expenses. If polluters can be held accountable and sufficient funding is secured, the surcharge monies would be used to either lower rates or refunded to ratepayers.

The new monthly Emerging Contaminants Remediation Surcharge of $1.78, billed to Group A water system customers only, is necessary to ensure funding is available now and in the future for PFAS on-going operations, maintenance, and media replacement costs.

If you do not know if you are on a Group A or Group B water system, you can contact Customer Service toll-free at (866) 357-8783 or by email at PUDCustomerService@thurstonpud.org to request this information.

The table below depicts the PFAS Remediation fund balance cannot pay for the PFAS general operations and maintenance expenses and media replacement costs when using only the one-time money received from claim settlements.

This graph below shows the estimated costs for general Operations and Maintenance (O&M) expenses and media replacement costs, the one-time money from claim settlements and the new monthly EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation Surcharge of $1.78 billed to all Group A water system customers (approximately 9,100 customers).

The table below provides the EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation fund balance on an annual basis for the general O&M expenses and media replacement costs, and the annual fund balance if claim settlements only paid for the expenses and if claim settlements and the monthly new EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation Surcharge paid for the expenses. In column F, if the claim settlements only paid for the PFAS expenses, the fund balance would not be able to pay for the expenses in year 2032. However, in column G, if claim settlements and the monthly new EPA/WA State Emerging Contaminants Remediation Surcharge paid for the PFAS expenses there would be money to pay for the annual expenses. Please note, this table does not include the estimated cost for the treatment plant replacements. In 2027, when the treatment plants are installed, District staff will review the treatment plant replacements estimated costs and reassess the monthly surcharged needed to pay for all PFAS expenses.

Audit Reports - WA State Auditor's Office

• 2024 Financial Statements

• 2023-2024 Accountability Audit Report

• 2023 Financial Statements

• 2022 Financial Statements

• 2020-2022 Accountability Audit Report

• 2021 Financial Statements

• 2020 Financial Statements

• 2019 Financial Statements

• 2018-2019 Accountability Audit Report

• 2018 Financial Statements