Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On January 29, Lee Zeldin was sworn in as 17th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During his Senate confirmation hearing, he was asked about many environmental problems that the U.S. is facing. Most notably, the first question was about PFAS pollution. Committee Chairman Sen. Capito (R-WV) asked Zeldin what he would do about the “forever chemicals” problem, and Zeldin noted that he was a member of the PFAS Task Force and also voted for the PFAS Action Act during his former position as New York congressman. Sen. Merkley (D-OR) questioned “paid influencers” in financial disclosures and the $270,000 in oil and gas campaign funding, asking Zeldin if donations like this would influence his role as administrator.
When President Donald Trump took office on January 20, he immediately withdrew plans to set discharge limits to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) effluent pollution. The EPA rule draft was sitting in the regulatory review process and needed the White House to review it, but Trump’s executive order withdrew any of the regulations pending approval from the prior administration.
Meanwhile, two former chemical industry executives are returning to roles within the EPA. Nancy B. Beck, a toxicologist and former executive at the American Chemistry Council, will head the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety. She held a similar role during Trump’s first administration. Lynn Ann Dekleva is an engineer who worked for the American Chemistry Council, and has spent more than three decades at DuPont. She will return to her role as deputy assistant administrator, overseeing new chemicals — a position she held during Trump’s last term.
In Canada, according to city officials in North Bay, Ontario, one-third of the soil has been remediated of its PFAS contamination near the Jack Garland Airport. The process started in October 2024 after it was discovered that firefighting foam leached into the soil, moving through groundwater and polluting North Bay’s drinking water supply.
On January 17, Attorneys General from 18 states — including Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and New York — filed an amicus brief defending an EPA rule designating half a dozen versions of PFAS (such as PFOA, PFOS, and GenX) as harmful under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Illinois Representative Michael J. Kelly introduced House Bill 1295 in the Illinois General Assembly on January 28. If passed, this would significantly expand state regulations on PFAS in consumer products by proposing amendments to the existing PFAS Reduction Act.
The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) recently announced that groundwater near a former Wayne County Landfill is still contaminated by PFAS. This now marks 300 sites within Michigan that are contaminated with “forever chemicals.”
American Water Works, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., recently signed a massive contract with Calgon Carbon Corp. to supply granular activated carbon to more than 50 American Water Works sites over 10 states — including Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. This 9-year partnership will help supply American Water Works with products and services specifically to treat “forever chemicals.”
More PFAS news in case you missed it:
- Australian lawmaker Cate Faehrmann visited Plainfield Township, Michigan to tour water treatment plants and learn more about treating PFAS. Faehrmann chairs a committee devoted to investigating chemical contamination and said after discovering these chemicals in Sydney’s drinking water, she was prompted to find where else in the world this problem was identified and dealt with.
- A new study discovered that air emissions are an underestimated source of PFAS pollution, impacting home gardens grown near polluters. The peer-reviewed paper looked at 53 samples from five gardens over the course of six years, all within several miles of a Chemours plant near Fayetteville, North Carolina. PFAS were found in all 53 samples.
- A mechanism discovered in polar bear fur may be a promising replacement for PFAS’s moisture-wicking capabilities in textiles.
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Featured image: Sign warning for environmental contamination (Great Lakes Now Episode 1012)
