NC environmental officials petition EPA to classify four PFAS as hazardous

A diagram shows how environmental regulations seek to address PFAS pollution - Source: NCDEQ

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality joined two other states in asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate several PFAS as toxic air pollutants.

PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” affect soil, groundwater, and surface water, and can contaminate public and private drinking water sources.

Along with the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, NCDEQ asked the EPA to add four specific PFAS chemicals to the list of Hazardous Air Pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

This would help protect public health and the environment from airborne PFAS emissions, according to the petition .

The chemicals are PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid), and GenX (HFPO dimer acid).

“The EPA has been proactive in addressing PFAS and supporting efforts to address PFAS contamination in our states,” North Carolina DEQ Secretary Elizabeth S. Biser shared in a press release. “Adding these forever chemicals to the list of regulated pollutants addresses a gap in our regulatory authority and makes it possible to tackle a critical part of the PFAS life cycle: air emissions.”

North Carolina is familiar with measuring, assessing, delineating, mitigating, and removing PFAS from the environment, according to the petition.

NCDEQ suspended processed wastewater discharge from the Chemours Fayetteville Works after discovering GenX and other PFAS in the Cape Fear River in 2017.

The department also filed a lawsuit in state court against Chemours, leading to a consent order in 2019 requiring Chemours to prevent or reduce PFAS impacts across environmental media.

NCDEQ determined the causal link between significant PFAS air emissions from the facility and the widespread PFAS contamination of groundwater in thousands of private drinking water wells near the Chemours facility.

The discovery and subsequent action helped mitigate the effects to human health and the environment.

The new petition comes at the same time that NCDEQ is confronting roadblocks to its efforts to regulate forever chemicals. Earlier this month, Inside Climate News and NC Newsline reported that Republican appointees to the state Environmental Management Commission have worked with industry to delay new proposed PFAS rules designed to protect drinking water sources.

And on Wednesday of this week, the Southern Environmental Law Center petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to assume control of the state’s water permitting authority, in what would be an unprecedented move for North Carolina. SELC is arguing that political interference has prevented the NCDEQ from enforcing the Clean Water Act, including with respect to PFAS pollution.