NC AG Jackson leads states in opposing EPA rollback of PFAS in water

Under the EPA’s proposal, federal law would no longer require public drinking water systems to test for four PFAS substances, including GenX, a toxic chemical linked to health issues affecting the liver and kidneys. It reverses the EPA’s 2024 update to the Safe Drinking Water Act, regulating the amount of PFAS in drinking water.

The Safe Drinking Water Act initially passed in 1974 after a yearslong process of research, analysis, and public feedback. The measure allowed the EPA to set national standards for chemicals and contaminants in drinking water. 

“In North Carolina, we know firsthand how damaging PFAS chemicals are to our drinking water and to people’s health,” Jackson said in a statement on Tuesday. “If the EPA rolls back these limits, it would be a harmful step in the wrong direction.”

Exposure to PFAS is linked with health risks like cancer, higher cholesterol, thyroid disease, and reproductive complications. 

This proposal continues the Trump administration’s streak of rolling back protections on the environment. Earlier this month, the EPA scrapped a Biden-era assessment of PFAS in sludge, which has been used on farmland as fertilizer.

In the letter, the coalition of Democratic attorneys general said the EPA’s proposal would “significantly and unlawfully” harm national standards protecting the public from PFAS. 

To protect public health, the Safe Drinking Water Act has a specific provision preventing the EPA from backsliding its regulations, Jackson pointed out. 

“Congress designed this provision to prevent EPA from doing exactly what it proposes to do here — weaken existing health protections for public drinking water,” Jackson wrote. 

He described North Carolina as “ground zero” for GenX Contamination. Chemical manufacturer Chemours, formerly part of DuPont, have operated a plant in Fayetteville since the 1970s. 

Chemours has been emitting GenX and other PFAS pollutants into the Cape Fear River, which provides drinking water for 500,000 eastern North Carolina residents, and surrounding areas for decades. 

A key ‘forever chemicals’ lawsuit settles out of court in North Carolina

It’s Jackson’s latest push against the EPA related to PFAS. Last week, Jackson asked North Carolinians to comment on what he calls a “backroom PFAS deal” between the EPA and Chemours.

More than 2,600 plaintiffs sued the chemical manufacturer in 2018 for polluting their drinking water wells, air, soil, and groundwater. Plaintiffs wanted compensation for their dropping home values, health concerns, and the inability to fully use and enjoy their properties, according to the complaint. 

The trial never went to court after the EPA and Chemours announced they’d reached a $450 million settlement last month. The settlement still needs approval from a federal court. 

Jackson said the agreement didn’t involve negotiations with North Carolina’s state agencies.

“This deal was negotiated behind closed doors without anyone from North Carolina at the table, and it guarantees our state nothing,” Jackson said in a statement last week. 

Joining Jackson in his complaint were the attorney generals of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.