Best way to meet EPA’s new PFAS drinking water standards is pollution control at the source, says SELC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—EPA announced today long-awaited drinking water standards for six PFAS and the best way to meet those standards is to stop PFAS pollution at the source before it gets into drinking water sources and burdens downstream communities. Today’s welcome announcement highlights the importance of using existing laws to keep toxic PFAS pollution out of our waterways. December 2022 EPA guidance to state agencies emphasized that authority under existing law should be used now to stop PFAS pollution at its source without waiting for future regulations. 

“EPA’s new drinking water standards for several PFAS are a welcome backstop, now agencies and municipalities can and should stop all PFAS pollution at the source under existing law so no more communities suffer from contaminated water in their taps,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center which led successful litigation against Chemours in North Carolina to stop GenX and other PFAS pollution of the Cape Fear River and drinking water for over 500,000 people downstream. “The Clean Water Act already provides the tools necessary for agencies to stop PFAS pollution through the permitting process before it gets into drinking water sources. If existing laws are enforced, as they should be, they will keep PFAS pollution out of our waterways and downstream drinking water.”   

As EPA has recognized, PFAS—estimated to number in the thousands—pose a significant health risk. Known as “forever chemicals,” they do not dissipate, dissolve, or degrade but stay in water, soil, and our bodies. PFAS are not removed by conventional water treatment so keeping them out of drinking water sources is critical to avoid burdening downstream communities. Polluters should have to bear the cost of their pollution not downstream communities. 

Use of the existing tools embodied in EPA’s recent guidance to states has proven effective in the Southeast. The Southern Environmental Law Center’s litigation under existing laws led to a consent order, a court enforceable agreement, among Cape Fear River Watch, the state, and the Chemours Company to stop at least 99% of PFAS pollution from its Fayetteville Works facility that contaminated drinking water supplies for over 500,000 people in communities along the Cape Fear River.