Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) committed to a decision within 90 days on an October 14, 2020, petition to require health effects testing by Chemours under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The EPA commitment letter stated that the EPA would expeditiously reconsider the Trump Administration’s January 7, 2021 denial of the petition and decide within 90 days whether to grant the petition and require testing.
Center for Environmental Health, Cape Fear River Watch, Clean Cape Fear, Democracy Green, the NC Black Alliance, and Toxic Free NC are the six groups that submitted the petition requiring health and environmental testing on certain PFAS manufactured by Chemours in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Under section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the group’s petition seeks testing orders on 54 PFAS released into the environment by Chemours. There are no health effects data on most of the 54 PFAS, and available studies on the remainder are inadequate. Nearly 300,000 residents of Cape Fear communities have been exposed for more than 40 years to PFAS-contaminated drinking water, and several PFAS have been found in their blood.
“For decades, our communities have suffered silently from PFAS contaminated water. All the while, polluting corporations have continued to profit from our pain. Our dedicated team of community groups, legal counsel, and scientists have provided EPA with the tools to clearly and swiftly act to save our people. It’s straightforward: approve our petition, clean up our communities and make the polluter pay,” said La’Meshia Whittington, NC Black Alliance.