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Capito presses EPA’s Pruitt on chemical study

WASHINGTON — More action is needed to address perfluorinated compounds, including C8 and GenX, the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday responding to a question from a West Virginia senator.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., asked Director Scott Pruitt about press reports this week suggesting a delay in the release of a study into contamination was because of a “PR challenge” facing the EPA.

Perfluorinated compounds include PFAS, PFOA or C8, and GenX, the successor to C8 in making Teflon at the Washington Works in Wood County.

A science panel created in the settlement of a lawsuit against DuPont found a probable link between C8 and six diseases in humans. A granulated carbon filter system, which appears effective in removing C8 to non-detectable levels, is being installed in the city of Martinsburg, W.Va.

“We have a real vested interest in this,” Capito told Pruitt on Wednesday during the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on EPA funding, according to a video of the hearing.

Newsweek and Politico this week reported online a federal study that found dangerous levels of perflourinated chemicals in water supplies near military bases was not being released because of a public relations problem. Capito was a co-sponsor of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to do a study into the contamination.

PFAS is used in firefighting suppression at the bases. The study was done by the Department of Health and Human Service.

“We need to take more concrete action with respect” to the compounds, Pruitt told the committee in response to Capito.

Pruitt cited the National Leadership Summit organized by the EPA about man-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals will be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Representatives from around the country are expected, he said.

Additional steps could include classifying the chemicals as hazardous substances for their removal by the responsible parties and doing more than having only a health advisory, Pruitt said. Toxicity standards for GenX will be established this summer, he said.

“That is something I am considering we will discuss at that summit next week with those stakeholders,” he said.

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