
EPA’s Drinking Water Limits for PFAs Are Under Threat – and That’s Nothing New
October 02, 2024 | Source: The Guardian | by Tom Perkins
Several unexpected plaintiffs are behind a legal challenge aiming to kill the Environmental Protection Agency’s groundbreaking new drinking water limits for highly toxic PFAS: the US’s water utilities, represented by their major trade groups.
But utility industry opposition to clean water regulations is nothing new. Though utilities’ mission is to provide the US with clean and safe water, their trade groups have for decades often fiercely opposed initiatives to improve quality.
Utilities have successfully helped kill, delay or weaken virtually all proposed limits on toxic substances like lead, the rocket fuel perchlorate, and carcinogenic disinfectants.
The utility industry also lobbied to weaken the Safe Drinking Water Act’s 1996 revision, which is largely why the EPA since then has only successfully set a new limit for one contaminant – PFAS – and that still may be undone, said Erik Olson, senior adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund, who also lobbied on the legislation.
The US now faces a baffling scenario in which those who are responsible for cleaning its water are considered to be the biggest obstacle to safe water, public health advocates say. Utilities often work “arm and arm” with the chemical industry to attack rules, Olson said.
“It has been across the board that when the EPA tries to advance strong new rules, many utilities fight against it,” he added.