Water

In his first six months, President Trump’s legislative agenda has stalled in Congress. But through regulatory rollbacks, he is waging a slash-and-burn assault on public health and the environment.

President Trump said last week that in his first months in office he has accomplished "more ... than practically any president in history." His claim is not supported by the facts, but at the six-month mark one thing is indisputable: No president and administration have ever done so much so quickly to roll back protections for children's health and safety.

Last week Chemours – a DuPont spinoff company that inherited liability for some of its parent's nastiest toxic messes – announced "voluntary actions" to clean up and eliminate pollution from a highly fluorinated chemical, which is a potential human carcinogen. The company’s Fayetteville, N.C., plant has been discharging the chemical, GenX, into the Cape Fear River since 1980.

Toxic pollutants in drinking water are particularly hazardous for children. Compared to adults, children drink more water per pound of body weight, resulting in greater exposure and greater risk. They’re also more vulnerable to harmful contaminants because their bodies are still growing and toxic chemicals cause more harm to developing organs and tissues.

This week, EWG released two reports.
 

The known extent of the contamination of U.S. communities with PFCs – highly fluorinated toxic chemicals, also known as PFASs, that have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, weakened immunity and other health problems  – continues to expand with no end in sight. New research from EWG and Northeastern University in Boston details PFC pollution in tap water supplies for 15 million Americans in 27 states and at more than four dozen industrial and military sources from Maine to California.  

Rural Americans were key to President Trump’s election, but the president’s proposed budget would reward their support by allowing more animal waste, toxic pesticides and fertilizer pollution in their drinking water, said EWG.

Here’s some news you can use as you begin your weekend.

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was recently asked by Fox News how much it will cost to clean up the nation’s most severely polluted toxic waste sites. His answer shows that the man in charge of the federal Superfund program doesn’t know how it works – or is deliberately hiding the truth that cleanup costs fall mostly on taxpayers.