DEEP DIVE: Activists, Experts Press Congress, EPA for Tougher Enforcement of CERCLA, PFAS Mitigation

Amara Strande, an outspoken advocate for water quality and for preventing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in her home state of Minnesota, died in April 2023 at the age of 20 due to a rare form of liver cancer that occurred when she allegedly was exposed to contaminated drinking water from a 3M Company plant in Oakdale, Minn.

Her sister Nora Strande, 17, was on Capitol Hill 20 March 2024 to continue Amara’s work, lobbying lawmakers in the U.S. Senate’s Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW) to pass more stringent regulations governing the use and disposal of PFAS.

As a result of the efforts of the Strande sisters, Amara’s Law was signed 2 June 2023 in Minnesota banning the use of PFAS in certain products starting in 2025, but work remains for Strande and others who hope to see more wide-reaching federal standards adopted for PFAS.