Was Céline Tellier well aware of chemicals being present in Walloon drinking water? A letter addressed to the Minister [by her Flemish colleague Zuhal Demir] raises questions

by Leiegast

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  1. >**Was Walloon Minister Céline Tellier aware of the presence of PFAS in running water in Wallonia? This is what a letter sent to her by the Flemish Minister for the Environment in January 2023 suggests. RTL info has obtained an exclusive copy of this letter.**
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    >A new revelation has raised questions about the contamination of water by PFAS, extremely persistent chemicals. Residents of 12 villages in the Ath region drank this polluted water between October 2021 and March 2023.
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    >According to exclusive information from RTL info, a letter was sent in January 2023 by Zuhal Demir, the Flemish environment minister, to her Walloon and Brussels counterparts. So was Walloon minister Céline Tellier aware of the presence of PFAS in running water in Wallonia? This letter referring to problems with drinking water in Halle suggests that Céline Tellier was indeed informed. As was Brussels minister Alain Maron, who received the same letter.
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    >In this document, which we have been able to consult, Zuhal Demir first refers to a previous letter dated March 2022 in which she “already informs that the EFSA reference values for drinking water are still not respected in the areas where Flanders imports drinking water from other regions”.
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    >The Flemish minister went on to say that “a recent emergency notification indicates that the drinking water in Halle, supplied by Vivaqua, contains levels of PFAS above the EFSA reference values, but also considerably higher than the future European standards of the amended European drinking water directive”.
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    >It should be noted that a large proportion of the drinking water in Flanders comes from Wallonia and is supplied by Vivaqua.
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    >Zuhal Demir asked ministers Tellier and Maron to organise “regular meetings to discuss PFAS levels in drinking water”.
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    >Has this request gone unheeded? The question remains unanswered for the time being, and raises questions about the action taken by Céline Tellier.

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