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What’s going on: A member of the House of Commons is demanding answers this week from the Environmental Protection Agency about why it is no longer appropriate to make public a written report on the chemicals found in millions of Americans’ water.
In a letter sent to the EPA on Thursday, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, referenced a Propublica story from last week citing that the report was threatened in April but had to be released. Pingree – TOP TOMEMOT in the Committees Committees on the interior, environment and related agencies – asked EPA Adgercator Lee Zeldin for “clear answers” that directed its delay and when Zeldin will make the release.
What they say: Pingree referred to the delay in publishing the report as part of a “growing pattern of interference with the agency’s scientific work” and pointed to the integrated increase program, the EPA’s program that is similar. Iris, which was created during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, analyzes chemicals that can cause health damage. became hostile to the IRIS program,” he wrote, whether scientists were removed or redeployed from the program and, if so, why.
His letter also noted that “the delay in providing the PFNA Report coincided with the decision of the EPA, in May of this year, to wrap up” to eliminate water restrictions on PFNA and a few other chemicals above, also known as PFAs. “This appears to be more than a given that there has been a strong push back from the industry to regulate PFAS,” Pingree said.
Pingree noted that the delay appears to contradict Zeldin’s repeated public statements about protecting the public from PFAS compounds, which contaminate soil and water in Maine and across the country. “Our government relies on the Federal Government. And when you see the federal government turn its back on you and decide to kill information … that’s really disappointing. “Reading that part makes my blood boil.”
Background: PFNA is in the drinking water systems serving about 26 million people. The report in question found that chemicals interfere with human development by causing low birth rates and, possibly harmed in animal evidence, including a reduction in fertility rates, including a decrease in testosterone levels, sperm production and organ size.
PFNA was part of Fire Extinguisher Foam and a processing aid to make a type of plastic used in circuit boards, valves and pipes. Although it was under the voluntary category almost two decades ago, the chemicals are now widespread in nature.
Propublica’s reporting found that Iris has been significantly reduced under the Trump Administration. The system, which calculates values that can be used to set contaminant limits for drinking water and cleanup standards for toxic sites, has been a common goal of the industry. Project 2025, the Conservative Blueprint that laid the way for the second President Donald Trump Administration, called Iris to be eliminated. Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress introduced legislation called the “NO IRIS ACT.” Of the 55 scientists at the EPA identified as working in the latest IRIS audit, only eight remain in the office, according to a source familiar with the program.
What Makes It Important: The report calculated the amount of PFNA that people can be exposed to without harm – a critical measure that can be used to set treatment limits for contaminated areas called drinking water. This calculation will prove critical for communities across the country as they fight with polluters who will pay to remove PFNA and other permanent chemicals from the environment.
Answer: Last week, an EPA spokesperson told Propublica that the report on the PFNA will be published when it is finalized but did not answer questions about what might happen. The press office did not respond to questions about Pingree’s letter.
