Press Release | January 23, 2025

EPA gives states explicit steps to stop PFAS pollution at the source

The Environmental Protection Agency published a new, critical “How-To” guide to assist states in preventing PFAS pollution from harming families and communities across America. The agency’s framework builds on important permitting guidance EPA issued in 2022 that makes clear states have existing authority under the law to stop PFAS pollution at the source so the burden of pollution falls on the polluter, not communities downstream.  

“EPA has given state agencies a step-by-step roadmap to immediately begin controlling all industrial sources of toxic PFAS pollution,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “It reinforces that states can protect communities now by requiring industries to treat their own PFAS pollution so that these forever chemicals do not end up in our rivers and drinking water in the first place.” 

The Southern Environmental Law Center demonstrated how existing authority under the Clean Water Act can stop pollution at the source and protect communities. In 2017, SELC and Cape Fear River Watch used existing law to hold Chemours accountable for its PFAS pollution in North Carolina. Ultimately, SELC negotiated a consent order with the state and Chemours requiring the company to control PFAS pollution from its Fayetteville Works Facility; provide clean drinking water to North Carolinians with contaminated drinking water wells; and ensure the Cape Fear River is safe for downstream communities. The river is the drinking water source for about 500,000 people in the city of Wilmington and New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick Counties downstream.  

EPA’s “How-To” guide further shows that states can and should limit PFAS pollution through Clean Water Act discharge permits that incorporate effective existing treatment technology. State agencies can require industries to provide necessary information during the permitting process so that states can develop limits on PFAS pollution. EPA’s framework also reaffirms that industries must disclose PFAS and other chemicals they are releasing. 

PFAS are a class of thousands of human-made chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, and GenX, and are associated with serious health harms. These contaminants are 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 it is critical to keep them out of drinking water sources.   

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Kathleen Sullivan

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