[Press Release] Ranking Member Pingree: Trump’s EPA is Failing to Protect Americans from ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination

October 16, 2025

Read the full article by Chellie Pingre

"Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee, is calling for transparency and immediate action from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after it was reported the Agency is withholding a long-delayed “forever chemical” risk assessment. The EPA’s report on a PFAS compound called Perfluorononanoic Acid (PFNA) concluded that PFNA can cause developmental, liver, and reproductive harm, including lower birth weights and reduced testosterone and sperm levels. According to ProPublica’s reporting, internal EPA documents and agency scientists confirmed that the report was “completed and ready to post” in April, needing only final briefings to leadership.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Pingree said the delay is part of a “growing pattern of interference with the Agency’s scientific work.”

“The delay in issuing the PFNA report coincided with EPA’s decision, in May of this year, to rescind some PFAS Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, one of which happens to be PFNA,” Pingree said. “This seems to be more than coincidence given that there has been strong industry pushback on regulating PFAS.”

“We both know that PFAS poses a significant public health threat to our water, food supply, and farming communities. It is necessary to take steps to combat PFAS contamination, yet this delay and erosion of capacity directly contradict your repeated public statements about both transparency and the need for strong, science-based PFAS policies,” she continued."