Chemours can skip testing 54 ‘forever chemicals,’ EPA says

By Pat Rizzuto | Bloomberg Law Review | January 8, 2021

Read the full article by Pat Rizzuto (Bloomberg Law Review)

“The EPA has rejected a request from six North Carolina environmental health groups to force Chemours Co. to generate toxicity, human health, and other data for dozens of toxic PFAS chemicals.

The petitioners failed to prove the requested data was needed, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a decision posted online late Thursday.

Chemours spokesman Thom Sueta said the company is pleased with the EPA’s decision and agrees with the agency that the groups had failed to provide justification the Toxic Substances Control Act requires to compel the requested tests.

The six groups that asked the agency to require the data—the Center for Environmental Health, Cape Fear River Watch, Clean Cape Fear, Democracy Green, NC Black Alliance, and Toxic Free NC—said in a statement that the rejection was yet another case of the Trump administration prioritizing “the profit margins of corporate polluters” instead of public health.

But ‘we’re seeing a new dawn coming very soon,’ said La’Meshia Whittington, campaign director of the North Carolina Black Alliance.

The Biden administration’s platform pledges to work on PFAS specifically, and address racial and other disparities that cause some groups to be more highly exposed to pollutants than others. The alliance is discussing strategies to continue its efforts to get needed data about the chemicals, she said.

Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, said her group is organizing a community sign-on letter so people can show their support for the petition.

‘We plan to deliver it to the new Biden EPA team once everyone has been confirmed,’ she said…”

This content provided by the PFAS Project.