Waterkeeper Alliance Files FOIA Request To Uncover EPA's Backroom Dealings On Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' In Drinking Water

Waterkeeper Alliance has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compel the release of records related to the agency’s recent attempts to delay and weaken the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The FOIA request seeks communications, environmental analyses, and a suppressed toxicity report that could shed light on the reasoning behind the agency’s alarming reversal on protecting the public from these toxic “forever chemicals.” This action by Waterkeeper Alliance follows Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement of plans to weaken the standards, and EPA’s subsequent motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to partially vacate the drinking water rule.

“The science is clear and unequivocal: PFAS are extremely dangerous and are poisoning our drinking water. EPA’s sudden reversal on these vital protections is a shocking betrayal of its mission to safeguard public health and the environment,” said Jacqueline Esposito, Advocacy Director at Waterkeeper Alliance, who submitted the request. “The public has a right to know what is driving this administration’s efforts to side with polluters over the health of families in America. We are demanding transparency to expose any backroom deals and the suppression of scientific evidence.”

The requested records cover the period from January 20, 2025 to the present, and include:

• Communications between EPA officials and outside parties, including water utilities, industry groups, and trade associations, regarding the rollback of the PFAS drinking water rule.
• Environmental and health data related to the impacts of delaying compliance for PFOA and PFOS from 2029 to 2031, and rescinding standards for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX, and chemical mixtures.
• The completed but unreleased PFNA toxicity report and all related communications.

Waterkeeper Alliance has requested expedited processing of its FOIA request, arguing that a lack of immediate public access to this information poses an “imminent threat to health, life, and safety.” PFAS exposure is consistently associated with serious health effects, including cancer, liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced vaccine response, and pregnancy complications.

PFAS pollution also has a disproportionate impact on environmental justice communities. A 2023 peer-reviewed study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that communities with higher proportions of Black, Hispanic, and Latino residents face greater exposure to PFAS in their drinking water – a finding supported by Waterkeeper Alliance’s own 2025 monitoring data, which detected multiple PFAS at high concentrations in watersheds serving communities with high environmental justice indicators.

Despite serious public health disparities, EPA is also seeking to eliminate a provision that allows faster processing of public records requests from communities facing disproportionate pollution burdens. This change would remove environmental justice as a criterion for expedited FOIA processing, making it harder for impacted communities to quickly access critical information about the air they breathe and the water they drink. Rather than improving transparency, the proposal creates new roadblocks for those who need timely information the most.

“By delaying these essential protections, EPA is telling our most vulnerable communities that their health is expendable,” added Esposito. “We have the right to safe drinking water, and we will use every tool at our disposal, including this FOIA, to fight for it.”

Waterkeeper Alliance, with a network of over 300 Waterkeeper groups worldwide, intends to analyze the information and disseminate it broadly to inform the public and empower communities, states, and Tribes to take action in the face of federal erosion of clean water protections.