The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set drinking water standards for six PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” in April 2024. Regulators were close to almost establishing a discharge limit for PFAS manufacturers when President Trump issued a sweeping executive order withdrawing the proposed regulations.
“All the information was there,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “They had the information about what the technology could achieve.”
Federal regulators had that information, in part, because of legwork done in North Carolina.
North Carolina has some of the highest concentrations of these toxic chemicals in the nation, according to a national drinking water survey. In some instances, that pollution has been traced back to North Carolina manufacturers:
- Environmental group Cape Fear River Watch sued Chemours, previously DuPont, in 2018 for discharging GenX, a type of PFAS, into the Cape Fear River. The manufacturer had contaminated the drinking water of more than 300,000 people. State regulators later signed a consent order with Chemours to remediate the chemical pollution.
- In 2019, textile manufacturers in Burlington discharged PFAS into the Haw River, raising concentrations to 33,000 parts per trillion. North Carolina's drinking water limit for PFAS ranges from 4 to 10 parts per trillion.
In both cases, the Southern Environmental Law Center represented local advocacy groups that sued before remediation occurred. Zhuang said the groups could make progress in remediating PFAS pollution because the state had the existing authority to regulate these chemicals under the Clean Water Act.
State regulators required Chemours to curb most PFAS emissions, setting the stage for the proposed federal rule.
“We’ve been able to show that Chemours and these huge industries can pretty much eliminate these chemicals from their wastewater,” Zhuang said.
What’s next for PFAS pollution
The proposed rule would have addressed PFAS coming from PFAS manufacturers. In North Carolina, Chemours is the only facility that fits that description. It did not address forever chemicals from businesses that apply PFAS to their products, such as the textile industry in Burlington or Lear Corporation, a textile manufacturer in Duplin County. Lear's current draft permit does not limit how much PFAS the manufacturer can release into its wastewater.
The executive order sent all proposed regulations back to the department and agency heads appointed by Trump for review.
“What we do know is that it’s going to be very important for our states to do what they can to protect our communities,” Zhuang said. “That starts with things like making sure industries treat their own pollution so that it doesn’t end up in the drinking water in the first place.”
Nearly everyone has some amount of PFAS in their blood, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. They are in everything from firefighting foam to some nonstick pan coatings.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, refers to a broad family of nearly 15,000 chemicals that break down slowly in the environment. Current research on PFAS exposure suggests that these chemicals lower immune function and increase the risk of cancer and childhood obesity, among other negative health effects. In North Carolina, only eight have temporary groundwater limits. The state is considering permanent standards for three: PFAS, PFOS and GenX.
“Everyone wants clean drinking water, no matter your political affiliations or where you come from,” Zhuang said. “You want to be able to trust the water that comes out of your tap.”
