In the same week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would give Pennsylvania more than $39 million to address PFAS contamination in drinking water, the agency also said it would roll back PFAS regulations.
PFAS, also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of thousands of chemicals used in consumer goods, including stain-resistant rugs, waterproof clothing, nonstick pans and firefighting foam. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down, accumulating in the environment, including waterways, and the human body. PFAS are linked to developmental delays in children, some cancers, and other health issues.
PFAS were found in 76% of rivers and streams around Pennsylvania surveyed by the U.S. Geological Survey. They have contaminated drinking supplies in the LeHigh Valley, and “alarming levels” of PFAS from the Pittsburgh International Airport were found to be discharging into the Montour Run watershed.
“Addressing them is not optional. It is essential to making America healthy again,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. He was joined at a roundtable event this week with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., who brought the Make America Healthy Again movement into Trump’s voting base.
Under Zeldin’s plan, the EPA will repeal limits on four types of PFAS, including some that have contaminated drinking water sources. The agency will also give utilities an additional two years to meet the remaining PFAS limits.
Meanwhile, the $39 million EPA grant for Pennsylvania is “for communities, drinking water systems, and private well owners to help with testing, planning, and infrastructure projects addressing PFAS and other emerging contaminants,” according to the EPA press release. The funds are from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed under the Biden administration.
“It feels like a real hypocrisy,” said Steve Hvozdovich, of the non-profit Clean Water Action in Pennsylvania. “[The administration is saying], ‘We’re going to give you money to deal with this threat from a toxic chemical, but at the same time we’re going to roll back protections…we’re ripping away the safeguards and protections that exist around drinking water for the very same constituents,’” he said.
Zeldin said his agency will create new, what he calls, more legally-sound PFAS regulations. Chemical makers have already sued the federal government over the PFAS drinking water standards. “This regulation from the Biden administration would not stand a court challenge,” Zeldin said.
Hvozdovich doesn’t want Pennsylvania to wait for the EPA to create new regulations. Currently, the state’s PFAS regulations allow significantly more contamination than the Biden-EPA standards.
There are bipartisan bills in the state legislature, including one to limit the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS.
‘Alarming’ levels of PFAS from Pittsburgh airport are being discharged into Montour Run watershed
