EPA decides not to defend federal drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals in court

Schenectady — The fate of stronger protections for safe drinking water are in jeopardy after a court filing by the Environmental Protection Agency saying they will not be defending those protections in court.

New clean water standards, aimed at getting rid of four toxins PFAs chemicals, were approved 2023 under the Biden Administration, and set to take effect in the coming years.

Those standards though, were challenged in court by chemical industry and trade groups. Environmental groups say the chemicals can cause thyroid disease, kidney and testicular cancer and have already impacted communities like Hoosick Falls and Newburgh.

“This was a big win for corporate polluters, and it’s an enormous loss for New Yorkers and the rest of Americans, because at the end of the day, we’re the ones who have to keep drinking these toxic chemicals when we turn on the tap,” Rob Hayes, Senior Director of Clean Water at Environmental Advocates NY, said. “We’ve seen health effects like thyroid disease and kidney and testicular cancer, the list goes on and on. We don’t want that to happen to another community in New York. That’s why we were so supportive of the Biden administration’s health protective drinking water limits on these chemicals, and why it is so outrageous that the EPA is trying to strip those away from New Yorkers when it comes to these protections.”

Environmental groups are calling the State, under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act, to set more stringent limits and codify protections already on the books at the federal level…before they potentially get rolled back too.