Trump Wants To Allow Cancer-Linked Toxic Chemicals To Pollute Your Water
January 10, 2020
Today, House Democrats will vote on a bill that would force the Trump administration to manage cancer-linked toxic chemicals in drinking water, known as PFAS and considered “forever chemicals.” Trump has threatened to veto this bill, in favor of industry polluters, and has refused to prevent contamination and protect public health.
Trump threatened to veto this legislation, even after his own EPA missed its deadline to decide on regulating the toxic chemicals at all.
The Hill: “The White House announced Tuesday that President Trump would likely veto legislation designed to manage a class of cancer-linked chemicals leaching into the water supply.”
The Hill: “The EPA said it would determine whether to regulate PFAS by the end of 2019, a self-imposed deadline the agency missed.”
The Trump administration has actively sought to downplay and ignore the dangerous effects of PFAS that threaten public health nationwide.
Politico: “Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, after one Trump administration aide warned it would cause a ‘public relations nightmare,’ newly disclosed emails reveal.”
ProPublica: “Now two new analyses of drinking water data and the science used to analyze it make clear the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense have downplayed the public threat posed by these chemicals.”
As it ignores science, the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to stymie efforts to combat or prevent PFAS contamination.
Environmental Working Group: “The EPA spending cuts in Trump’s 2020 budget proposal include: • Slashing more than $220 million from programs focused on research on PFAS chemicals.”
Roll Call: “The Environmental Protection Agency proposed draft cleanup standards Thursday for groundwater contaminated by so-called forever chemicals, but advocates who urged the adoption of such standards said they were too weak. The proposal addresses PFAS compounds, which are so slow to degrade they’ve been nicknamed forever chemicals.”