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What happened: Leaders of key House subcommittees this week demanded answers from the Environmental Protection Agency about why it has yet to release a report documenting the health risks posed by permanent chemicals in the water of millions of Americans.
In a letter to the EPA on Thursday, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, cited a ProPublica article from last week that said government scientists said the report was ready for publication in April but has not yet been made public. Pingree, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee’s Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee, asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for “clear answers” about why the report was not released, who directed the delay and when Zeldin would promise to release the report.
What they said: Pingree cited the delay in issuing the report as part of a “widening pattern of interference with the agency’s scientific research,” and pointed to the Integrated Risk Information System, the EPA program that produced the report. Founded during President Ronald Reagan’s era, IRIS analyzes the health hazards caused by chemicals. “The Trump administration, Congressional Republicans, and industry are hostile to the IRIS program,” she wrote, asking whether scientists were removed or reassigned from the program and, if so, why.
Her letter also noted that “the delay in issuing the PFNA report coincided with EPA’s decision in May of this year to rescind drinking water restrictions for PFNA and several other permanent chemicals, also known as PFAS.” “Given the strong industry opposition to PFAS regulations, this appears to be more than just a coincidence,” Pingree wrote.
Pingree noted that the delay appears to contradict Zeldin’s repeated public statements about protecting the public from PFAS compounds that contaminate soil and water in Maine and across the country. “Our state really wants help from the federal government, and to see the federal government decide to turn their backs on you and withhold data… is really disheartening,” she told ProPublica. “Reading that work made my blood boil.”
Background: PFNA is involved in drinking water systems serving approximately 26 million people. The report in question found that the chemical stunted human development by causing a reduction in birth weight, and animal studies found that it was likely to cause damage to the liver and male reproductive system, including reduced testosterone levels, sperm production and reproductive organ size.
PFNA was a component of firefighting foam and a processing aid for making a type of plastic used in circuit boards, valves, and pipes. Although it was subject to a voluntary phase-out nearly 20 years ago, the chemical is now widespread in the environment.
A ProPublica report found that IRIS declined significantly under the Trump administration. The program calculates values that can be used to set limits for contaminants in drinking water and cleanup levels for hazardous sites, and is frequently targeted by industry. Project 2025, the conservative blueprint that set the tone for President Donald Trump’s second administration, called for IRIS to be eliminated. Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress introduced a bill called the “No IRIS Act.” Of the 55 EPA scientists identified by Publica as working on the recent IRIS assessment, only eight remain in the office, according to people familiar with the program.
Why it matters: This report calculated the amount of PFNA that people can be exposed to without causing harm. This is an important measurement that can be used to set limits for cleaning up PFNA in contaminated areas, known as Superfund sites, and for removing the chemicals from drinking water. This calculation could prove crucial for communities across the country fighting with polluters over who pays to remove PFNA and other permanent chemicals from the environment.
A: Last week, an EPA spokesperson told ProPublica that a report on the PFNA will be released once it is finalized, but did not answer questions about what still needs to be done or when it might happen. The agency’s press office did not respond to questions about Pingree’s letter.
