Important Takeaways:

• EPA: PFAS drinking water crisis worse than previously reported
• Today the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that 26 million people in hundreds of communities have the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in their drinking water.
• The initial round of data that the agency released today confirms the presence of PFAS at 431 water systems at levels above minimum reporting limits. This is consistent with a 2020 study published by scientists at the Environmental Working Group that estimated more than 200 million Americans could have PFAS in their drinking water.
• “For decades, millions of Americans have unknowingly consumed water tainted with PFAS,” said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at EWG.
• The results underscored the widespread occurrence of PFAS in tap water, with elevated levels not only in major cities like Austin, Denver, and Los Angeles, but also in smaller communities such as Glencoe, Ill., and Monroe, N.J. Notably, the testing unveiled PFAS contamination in several areas where it had not been previously detected in tap water.
• “The PFAS pollution crisis threatens all of us,” said Melanie Benesh, EWG’s vice president of government affairs.
• EWG estimates there could be nearly 30,000 industrial polluters releasing PFAS into the environment, including into sources of drinking water.

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