Wisconsin Officials Unhappy With EPA Plan To Weaken PFAS Standards

Wisconsin residents and environmental advocates say the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to weaken drinking water standards for PFAS will harm public health. But water utilities say it gives them more time to comply.

The EPA announced Wednesday that it plans to keep drinking water standards for two of the most widely studied PFAS, but the agency is pushing out the deadline for water systems to meet those limits from 2029 to 2031.

Doug Oitzinger is a common council member and resident of the city of Marinette, which first learned of PFAS contamination from Tyco Fire Product’s training facility about seven years ago. He called the change “outrageous.”

“This is terrible news for public health,” Oitzinger said. “It’s terrible news for the environment.

”Last year, the Biden administration set individual limits for PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion, which is roughly 17 times lower than the state standard of 70 parts per trillion. The Trump administration is keeping those standards in place. But the administration is scrapping and reconsidering limits for three other PFAS that include GenX chemicals, as well as a mix of four other PFAS substances.

Environmental groups praised PFAS standards when they were finalized last year, but water utilities sued over the new regulations. Environmental advocates at Clean Wisconsin say the EPA’s justifications for the change align with utilities’ stance that the agency lacked authority to regulate the chemicals or that current science doesn’t support the limits.

Sara Walling, the group’s water and agriculture program director, said it’s good to see the EPA will maintain standards for PFOA and PFOS. Even so, she said, rolling back regulations for other chemicals and delaying compliance is frustrating.

“Pushing the timeline back any little bit, it really just means that there’s a longer timeframe within which people are going to be drinking PFAS within the water that they’re provided by their municipal system,” Walling said.

While most water supplies meet federal standards, around 90 public water systems in Wisconsin would need to treat their water or drill a new well to meet the regulations.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS,  are a class of thousands of synthetic chemicals that are used in everyday products like nonstick cookware, stain-resistant clothing, food wrappers and firefighting foam. The chemicals don’t break down easily in the environment. Research shows high exposure to PFAS has been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, fertility issues, thyroid disease and reduced response to vaccines over time.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement the agency will protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water and hold polluters accountable.

Chris Groh, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, said he thinks the changes are reasonable.

“It’s giving the rural plants time to comply with all the things that need to go into it, and then make it affordable,” Groh said.

He said systems need more time to identify and install technologies to treat the chemicals, as well as how to safely dispose of filters or waste from removing PFAS. Environmental advocates argue technology already exists to capture and remove the chemicals.

Three years ago, the city of Wausau discovered elevated PFAS levels in all six city wells. The city implemented a temporary fix before borrowing just under $17 million for a granular activated carbon filtration system to remove the chemicals, which came online late 2024.

Wausau Mayor Doug Diny said PFAS levels are now almost undetectable in the city’s water supply and meet federal standards. However, he said installing costly treatment may not be possible for smaller cities.

“We’re fortunate that we have the (Safe Drinking Water Loan Program) funds that we can draw from on a low-interest loan,” Diny said. “That’s helpful. It’s debt, nonetheless, but I think the general consensus around the community is that we did the right thing.”

However, President Donald Trump has proposed gutting state loan programs that fund water projects like PFAS treatment or other infrastructure needs. Without funding, Groh said it may take even longer for systems to find money or raise rates to comply with federal standards.

Walling added the change may hinder the state’s ongoing efforts to develop groundwater standards for PFAS in line with levels proposed by the Biden administration. The state has twice failed to set limits for the chemicals in groundwater. Communities like the towns of Peshtigo, Stella and Campbell are struggling with PFAS contamination of private wells that draw from groundwater.

Gov. Tony Evers proposed a $145 million plan to address PFAS in the next two-year state budget, but Republican lawmakers on the state’s budget-writing committee stripped those items along with hundreds of others. In 2023, Evers and lawmakers set aside $125 million in a trust fund to help PFAS-contaminated communities address the chemicals, but they’ve yet to agree on how to spend those funds.

Wisconsin residents, groups frustrated with EPA plan to weaken PFAS standards was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.