‘Not a problem you can run away from’: Communities confront the threat of unregulated chemicals in their drinking water

Posts : 4264 Join date : 2013-01-16

Quote :: Politico reported in May that the White House and EPA sought to block publication of a federal health study on the nationwide effects of PFAS contamination after one administration aide warned in an email that it could result in a “public relations nightmare.” The study from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which eventually was released, suggested that the EPA’s existing, nonenforceable standard is inadequate to protect public health and should be much lower.

The same month, the EPA held a PFAS “summit” with industry representatives, public health groups, tribal leaders and officials from all levels of government. Then-administrator Scott Pruitt pledged action, saying, “There are concerns about these chemicals across the country because of their persistence, their durability, getting into the environment and impacting communities in an adverse way.”

Little has happened since then, however.