September 1, 2026
Op-ed by Andrew O’Donnell Newark DE Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC) Vice-Chair District 3, Black Hawk Pilot Veteran
The diversity in our armed services truly represents America. My fellow service members who signed up willing to put their lives on the line for the country from every region gave me immeasurable hope. Our ideologies never mattered when we had a mission. We all swore the same oath. We knew every one of us had each other’s backs. I look at our nation in that same light. We all want the best for our children. We all want safe neighborhoods, clean water, land, and air so our families can thrive.
When I moved to Newark, my family and I felt embraced by the community. I wanted to give back and continue my service with a new mission: to bring awareness to my city on how transitioning to clean renewables and preserving our environment will enhance our quality of life. Our city already has a Sustainability Plan that drives requirements for city council and now we are drafting our first ever Climate Action Plan.
However, nobody could foresee the insidious hidden threat that was emerging in our backyards — polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The Newark Water Department in Delaware detected PFOA, a type of PFAS contaminant, at a level of 20 parts per trillion (ppt) in our water system on October 27, 2023. It’s crucial to understand that even low levels of PFOA can pose significant health risks. Overwhelming evidence links PFAS to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, and ulcerative colitis.
The city went into action upgrading our groundwater and surface water treatment plants to mitigate and filter these chemicals to meet the standards under the Environmental Protection Agency. But now, PFAS standards could be weakened this year when the Toxic Substances Control Act comes up for its ten-year fee renewal in Congress. It’s TSCA that sets the standards for EPA to implement. If that happens, PFAS could creep back into our systems through companies who would not be held accountable. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they can stay in our bodies. My family has been drinking the water since we moved here.
Additionally, we discovered that the Newark South Groundwater Plume site in southeast Newark was contaminated with VOCs — chemicals historically used in dry cleaning, industrial solvents, and degreasers. Because these chemicals were used heavily without strict early environmental controls, spills and improper disposal led to significant soil and groundwater contamination. Due to their persistence and toxicity, EPA has banned or strictly limited the use of many of these chlorinated VOCs under TSCA.
Chemours, a spinoff of DuPont Chemicals has a lab facility that is less than a mile from my home and tests everything from paint to PFAS.
This facility is right across the street from my neighborhood and has a long list of hazardous chemicals they work with. Some of which incinerate and exhaust out special high-speed vent stacks in very small amounts so they are below unsafe concentrations before crossing the property line. My children, aged 6 and 11, love playing outside. My wife and I encourage it. When the weather is nice, my family is usually somewhere in nature. As parents our duty is to protect our children.
Without strong public health protections from the Toxic Substances Control Act, families like mine all across the country — people who, like us, live near the facilities where these chemicals are handled — would be at serious risk.
I enlisted in the U.S. Army to protect the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Make no mistake about it, PFAS and other toxic chemicals are enemies of the health of millions of Americans and other people of our world. We must do everything we can to make sure the Toxic Substances Control Act remains strong.
