RALEIGH, N.C. — The new EPA administrator laid out a roadmap Monday for how he wants to tackle environmental issues across the country and specifically in North Carolina's waterways.
What You Need To Know
EPA administrator announced a comprehensive environmental regulation plan for oversight of corporate polluters
The strategy involves requiring companies like Chemours, a chemical plant in Fayetteville, to test and report contaminants found in air and waterways
Chemours was tied to a pollutant known as GenX, a compound found in nonstick cookware to grease resistant food packaging
In a fresh blueprint for the Biden administration, Michael Regan from the Environmental Protection Agency, said it’s time to hold polluters accountable for dumping per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Regan outlined a comprehensive national strategy to force PFAS manufacturers to disclose and test how toxic the chemicals are being dumped into their respective environments.
"This national testing strategy is giving us that dataset that we need. It should be on the onus of the federal government to go and chase these recipes that we need. We are requiring that these companies report those chemical compounds to us in great detail," Regan said.
PFAS have been used in nonstick cookware to grease-resistant food packaging. Regan spoke during a news conference in Raleigh about Chemours, a chemical company in Fayetteville that has polluted air and water with chemicals since the 1970s. One of its more hazardous compounds included a contaminant known as GenX.
Regan formerly served in Gov. Roy Cooper’s cabinet as the secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
Regan was still serving as DEQ secretary when the GenX discovery in the state was made.
“It didn’t take long to determine all roads lead to Chemours,” Regan said.
GenX was discovered by researchers in an N.C. State lab in the Cape Fear River downstream from the Fayetteville plant. The EPA labels PFAS as a group of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences described PFAS “as a large, complex, and ever-expanding group of manufactured chemicals that are widely used to make various types of everyday products.”
Regan expected the first mandatory orders for testing to be sent to industry within a couple of months.
GenX is a pollutant linked to a variety of health effects like thyroid and liver issues, decreased infant birth weights and even certain types of cancers. These unregulated chemical compounds have now become a part of most Americans’ lives.
Regan says he will be working with states to ensure none of these accused corporate polluters will be granted discharge permits.
One of his first moves as EPA administrator was the creation of a PFAS council in April.
“I charged this new council with undertaking a comprehensive review of the problem and identifying solutions that we could implement right now,” Regan said.
Under this template, PFAS will be labeled either in groups or categories not on an individual basis.
”What we are taking a look at is this national testing strategy. We’re looking at 20 different categories, which is over 2,000 chemical compounds. There is so much we don’t know about PFAS as a class," Regan said.
Regan also spoke about the similarities in violations between companies like DuPont in West Virginia and Chemours in the Tar Heel state. Chemours is a spin-off company from DuPont founded in 2015.
“I think the similarities are that there wasn’t adequate disclosure. The laws have not been enforced to look at adequate disclosure so that we know what’s being put into our water, our drinking water and our air,” Regan said.
Regan believes this will save the EPA precious time and resources.
In an effort to address contamination, a final toxicity assessment in the coming days for GenX will be required.
“Which will ensure that no other community has to go through what the Cape Fear River communities had to endure,” Regan said. “When I look across the country, and I see the challenges communities are facing with PFAS, I know that there are lessons that others have learned, that we have learned, that we can share with each other from local to state to tribal to federal,” Regan said.
He also addressed distrust in poorer communities impacted by a lack of EPA oversight in past years. Regan wants to regain faith in what they do from the people he said they must protect.