Urge Congress to Protect Our Waters From Dangerous PFAS Contamination
By: Thomas Hynes
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to weaken national limits on toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in our drinking water. Instead of strengthening protections, the agency may roll back regulations for several harmful PFAS—including PFHxS, PFNA, and GenX—and may delay enforcement of new rules for PFOA and PFOS, two of the most dangerous compounds. They’re also looking to create loopholes that would let some polluters off the hook.
Without strong federal limits on discharges from industrial sources—the main contributors to the PFAS crisis—these chemicals will continue to enter the environment through multiple pathways, including those associated with wastewater treatment plants and the land application of biosolids (treated sewage sludge).
Communities across the country are already dealing with the health impacts of PFAS pollution. We can’t afford more delays or watered-down protections. It’s time for strong, enforceable standards and real accountability to stop this growing crisis.
Waterkeeper Alliance recently released the second phase of our PFAS monitoring initiative. Local Waterkeeper groups tested surface waters across 19 states—finding one or more types of PFAS in 98% of sampling sites, both upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants and in areas where biosolids are applied to land.
Multiple PFAS chemicals were detected —up to 19 different types at elevated levels at sampling sites downstream from wastewater plants and 14 types at elevated levels at sampling sites downstream from biosolids-treated land.
PFAS are also known as “forever chemicals” because they are very slow to break down. As a result, these toxic compounds are biopersistent, bioaccumulative, and pose serious health risks, including cancer, reproductive and developmental effects, immune system dysfunction, and hormonal disruption.
This contamination isn’t just widespread—it’s persistent, dangerous, and growing. That is why these findings should sound the alarm for EPA, regulators, and lawmakers at all levels to act with urgency to protect the health of our communities and our environment without any further delay.
To effectively mitigate the risks posed by PFAS, EPA must:
- Holds industrial source polluters accountable for the PFAS contamination they send downstream,
- Establishes and enforce federal standards for PFAS in drinking water and surface water discharges under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act,
- Prohibits the land application of PFAS-contaminated biosolids,
- Requires class-based regulation of PFAS compounds to address the full chemical family, prevent harmful substitutions, and streamline monitoring, treatment, and enforcement efforts, and
- Prioritizes funding for PFAS monitoring and the deployment of treatment technologies to protect all communities, especially those disproportionately impacted by ‘forever chemicals’ and other forms of pollution.
Communities deserve protection from this growing contamination crisis, especially those already overburdened by pollution. Our water shouldn’t be a chemical dumping ground.
Will you join us in urging Congress to pass stronger legal protections against PFAS pollution?