Rob Allen

At minimum, @epa should be using today’s major announcement to declare #PFOA and #PFOS hazardous substances. If they don’t make this obvious move, then today’s announcement and the overall “action plan” will be an embarrassment that reveals this process is a complete farce. 2/

Why? Because #pfoa and #pfos are the 2 oldest and most historically used of the #pfas chemicals, and there are literally THOUSANDS of other PFAS chemicals in use. This conversation needs to be about them, as replacement chemicals are already showing up in massive numbers. /3

Why? Because #pfoa and #pfos don’t break down in nature. Because @epa already decided to lead a voluntary phase out of the creation of these chemicals that started 14 YEARS AGO. Because thousands of studies show that these chemicals are toxic at extremely low levels. /4

Why? Because the companies who made these chemicals, like 3M and DuPont, knew of the dangers of these chemicals back in 1960’s. Because Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics has a National Superfund designated site specifically because of #PFOA. /5

Why? Because Department of Defense Aires across the nation have contaminated drinking water for millions of people with #pfos, and the lack of specificity from the government has delayed and/or prevented proper action to be taken to protect human health. /6

I attended the #PFAS National Leadership Summit in May of 2018, and the message from all participants was clear: National guidelines and leadership where not only needed, but everyone felt that @epa was painfully late to the game. /7

I sat with former Administrator Pruitt in his office at @epa to discuss what communities like ours have gone through, and said how important these decisions would be for future communities who have to go through this. This was 9 months ago. /8

If, like many of us fear, today’s announcement will only be the official “beginning of the process” of labeling #pfos and #pfoa as hazardous chemicals and of defining groundwater guidelines that require action, then this huge endeavor will come off as a joke. /9