Rolling back PFAS protections is a dangerous gamble for Hoosier health

By DESI RYBOLT
Guest Columnist

There is something deceptively reassuring about the word “reconsider.” It makes you think a careful, productive review is underway or that a better solution is coming soon.

When the EPA announced last month it was pulling back federal drinking water protections for four of six “forever chemicals” – GenX, PFHxS, PFNA, and hazardous PFAS mixtures – it used squishy words like “reconsider” and “reissue.” The agency announced nearly $1 billion in grant funding. Officials invoked the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Regardless of the angle, what the EPA is proposing will continue to put our health at risk.

PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – have earned the name “forever chemicals” for good reason. They don’t break down for a very long time. They accumulate in our bodies, in our soil, and in our water. They were manufactured by chemical companies for decades and used in common everyday items ranging from non-stick cookware to cosmetics to firefighting foam.

We now know they have been linked by peer-reviewed science and the EPA’s own assessments to cancer, thyroid disease, immune system suppression, developmental harm in children, high blood pressure during pregnancy, decreased fertility, and more. The science is serious enough that the EPA itself lists these as chemicals of concern on its own website.

Indiana has been ahead of the curve.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has been monitoring PFAS at public water systems across the state since 2021. Charlestown became the site of Indiana’s first PFAS drinking water treatment system this past November. Terre Haute is now building its own treatment system. Communities across our state are confronting what it costs to clean up chemicals that should never have been allowed into our water in the first place.

Now the federal government wants to step back from rules that would continue to force action.

The EPA’s recent proposal does two concerning things. It rescinds enforceable limits for four PFAS chemicals that the previous administration had finally, after decades of inaction, put into place. It also extends the compliance deadline for the two remaining regulated chemicals by two additional years, pushing it to 2031. Together, these proposals unwind the most significant federal drinking water protections in a generation.

In their place, the EPA is touting a nearly $1 billion national investment with $13 million allocated to Indiana to help communities test, plan, and build treatment infrastructure. That might sound like a big number, but it’s barely a drop of clean water in the currently contaminated bucket.

Consider the math. The Charlestown PFAS system alone cost $6 million. Terre Haute’s will cost $19 million. But Indiana is only getting $13 million total for the entire state.

A billion dollars spread across a national crisis is not a solution.

The money problem, as serious as it is, is not even the most alarming part. What happens when you remove a legal requirement for companies to act? Enforceable standards give utilities the mandate to act and communities the legal standing to demand cleanup. Because we still have no binding federal rules on how much PFAS polluters can release into our waterways, these drinking water standards are the last line of defense between contaminated water sources and your tap.

Protecting our water should be a rallying cause for all Hoosiers. It doesn’t matter if you live in a rural area or a big city, we all want what comes out of our tap to be safe and drinkable.

Rolling back enforceable protections that keep forever chemicals out of our water supply while offering a tiny pool of grants is not clean water policy. Indiana Conservation Voters urges the EPA to withdraw both proposed rules and instead to strengthen enforceable contaminant levels for all regulated PFAS. We urge Indiana’s congressional delegation to stand up for the families, children and communities in this state who are depending on the federal government to do its job.

Desi Rybolt is the Conservation Policy Director for Indiana Conservation Voters.