State Officials Call EPA ‘Counterproductive' On PFCs

As hearings commence in the New York State legislature over water contamination in the upstate town of Hoosick Falls, the discussion has in large part focused on a single question: Who’s to blame?

The New York State Senate held a hearing last week focused on state and federal roles in the crisis, which saw perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) make their way into the drinking water supply. New York Environmental Conservation Department Commissioner Basil Seggos slammed the U.S. EPA during the hearing.

“In this case, the EPA made the situation worse by failing to regulate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for 15 years and then changing the recommendations on how to handle PFOA contamination and offering guidance from the region that conflicted with guidance from headquarters,” Seggos said, the Albany Times-Union reported.

And in a letter sent last week, “a pair of officials appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused the EPA of causing confusion in its guidances regarding PFOA, which has been found in elevated levels in the Hoosick Falls drinking water and has been linked to cancer and other serious illnesses,” The Hill reported.

Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos wrote in the letter to EPA chief Gina McCarthy: “While we always try to work in partnership with the federal government, the [EPA’s] role in the Hoosick Falls situation was certainly not helpful, and was, at times, counterproductive.”

“The statements and guidance from the EPA’s regional office inexplicably differed from town to town in New York — not to mention from state to state. To further compound this confusion, the guidance from the EPA’s regional office differed from the EPA’s headquarters,” they said.

Judith Enck, an EPA official focused on New York, disagreed with their contentions. “That’s not accurate. There was no confusion, there was disagreement,” Enck told The Hill.

The EPA shifted its stance toward PFCs this year, but Enck said states were aware of the process and that it is was transparent. Enck said that the agency’s adjustment “of the acceptable level of PFOA in water from 400 parts per trillion to 100 parts to its current long-term level of 70 was not hard to understand,” The New York Times reported.

“The State Health Department are distinguished professionals,” she said. “They can follow the number of 400 to 70.”

The EPA issued a health advisory in May about PFCs exposure as various cities wage high-profile battles against the compounds, including Hoosick Falls, and factory towns across the country. PFCs are industrial chemicals, and research has tied them to cancer.

To read more about PFCs visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.