CALL FOR ACTION
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer visits Rensselaer County to stress action, urgency in PFAS crisis
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer joined with other officials, including Hoosick Falls Mayor Rob Allen, to address the toxic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perf luorooctanesulfonic acid ( PFOS) chemicals, which have long plagued communities such as Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh.
The news conference at the University at Albany Cancer Research Center comes following the release of a five-point per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) action plan by En- vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, which Allen said “falls painfully short of the actions needed to address a growing crisis that involves thousands of chemicals in the drinking water of millions of Americans.”
While the EPA stated their intention to set a Maximum Containment Level or (MCL) under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the agency won’t make a formal regulatory decision until the end of 2019.
Schumer’s visit was part of an effort to implore the EPA to expedite the process, adopt an accelerated timeline, and issue a drinking water standard to protect public health.
“The relentless advocacy of those in communities like Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, combined with the compelling scientific facts about the severe toxicity to humans from PFAS contamination, has finally com- pelled the EPA to stop denying the problem and, for the first time, say they intend to set a maximum drinking water standard. This is a necessary first step. But, given their foot- dragging on this issue, we must not allow EPA to kick the can down the road, and delay, delay, and study and delay,” Schumer said.
In addition, Schumer was
critical of the lack of urgency to protect the public from chemicals, as well as the agency’s caving to special interest polluters and chemical companies.
“The EPA in this administration has a sad history of foot-dragging (and bending over backward to protect polluters, not the public’s health) which is why I’m telling them that it is absolutely imperative they establish an MCL on an expedited timeline. Whether you’re living in Suffolk County, Newburgh, or right here in Rensselaer County, you deserve to know that the water you’re drinking is safe. That’s why the EPA must do its job, and not pass the buck when it comes to setting a tough MCL standard with all due speed that truly protects public health from insidious PFAS exposure,” Schumer noted of the need for tougher drinking water standards.
“We know right now that PFAS-related chemicals are prevalent, that they are extremely toxic and cause cancers and other ail- ments, and that they have no place in anyone’s drinking water. Setting a tough clear national drinking water standard (ASAP) should be job No. 1 at the EPA. And, given how much this EPA has worked to undermine health standards and make life easy for polluters, we are going to be watch- ing them like hawks to see that they don’t try to stretch this process out interminably,” Schumer added of the need for stronger oversight.
Allen also spoke about the widespread contamination of PFOA and PFOS and their long-lasting effects in the environment.
“They have contami- nated many drinking water systems nationally, either through manufacturing processes like those in Hoosick Falls ( PFOA), or through firefighting foam that has been tested and used at airports, firehouses and Department of Defense sites across the nation (PFOS),” Allen said of the lingering chemicals.
Like Schumer, Allen demanded a faster and more specific process.
“EPA’s goal of setting an interim groundwater cleanup recommendation is similar to its health advisory, it won’t give clear, specific, and required actions for all situations, but will only make suggestions. EPA’s proposition of monitoring PFAS is completely impossible under the UCMR ( Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule), which only tests for 30 different chemicals every two years. It would take 200 years to test for 3,000 of the 4,000+ PFAS chemicals. And it still wouldn’t help areas like Hoosick Falls, because the UCMR program only tests systems that serve over 10,000 people,” Allen said of the lack of action and guidance from the EPA.
“It is clear that EPA refuses to act, even in the growing face of a tidal way of research and awareness that demands action. They are failing at their most basic core value, to protect human health and the environment,” Allen added.
Last May, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the EPA would initiate steps under the Safe Drinking Water Act to evaluate the need for an MCL, last week, the EPA announced that it could take another nine to ten months to issue a formal regulatory determination, which is a necessary step for establishing the formal drinking water standard. Schumer said that even though the EPA said in writing that they intend to set an MCL, they displayed a lack of urgency in addressing the PFAS crisis and cannot be allowed to do so again.
Schumer has tried relentlessly to address the PFOA contamination at Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. In Jan. 2016, Schumer, in a letter to Saint- Gobain Performance Plastics, urged the company to address the contamination at Hoosick Falls.
In May of 2016, Schumer pushed the EPA to immediately release its updated drinking water health advisory. Schumer said it was critical to address and remediate the full scope of the contamination and fought to get the critical Superfund designation for Hoosick Falls.