By Christina Arlotta
New York State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and Nassau County Legislators Olena Nicks and Scott Davis, all Democrats, joined other Long Island leaders at a news conference last Friday in Hempstead to criticize a plan by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to weaken the limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
The panel urged the New York congressional delegation to oppose the EPA’s rollback of federal regulations limiting toxic chemicals, namely PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds), in the water supply and instead to act to protect Long Island’s drinking water.
The EPA, under its new leader, former Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican, made the PFAS announcement last Wednesday. At the time, EPA officials also announced plans to revoke and reconsider three additional forms of PFAS (PFHxS, PFNA and GenX), as well as extend the restriction dates for utilities to comply with PFOS and PFOA, two common forms of PFAS, from 2029 to 2031. The Biden administration previously set stringent limits on PFAS in drinking water, including setting PFOS and PFOA limits to just 4 parts per trillion, the lowest level that can be reliably detected.
PFAS compounds are considered by many scientists to be harmful chemicals that can cause numerous health problems, including several types of cancer, immune disorders, heart disease and reproductive issues, particularly among women, babies and children. PFAS are present throughout the environment in water, air and soil, and are also found in many consumer and industrial products, including cosmetics, cookware and fabrics, particularly fire- and water-repellent gear. They are called “forever chemicals” because their strong carbon bonds can take hundreds, even thousands, of years to degrade.
Solages, of Elmont, and fellow officials warned that weakening PFAS regulations would endanger public health and reverse hard-won progress in protecting Long Island’s water.
“This is serious,” Solages said. “We need to call on the federal government to reinstate a lot of the PFAS regulations that they have implemented. We need to make sure that we’re thinking of Americans first.”
Nicks, who represents Uniondale, Westbury and parts of Hempstead Village, shared concerns that the recent decision by the EPA may impair several local initiatives aimed at protecting public health, including:
• Securing millions of dollars to modernize Hempstead’s water treatment plant.
• Supporting the distribution of water filters to combat contaminants in Uniondale.
• And advocating for federal funding to help remove hazardous chemicals from community wells in Westbury.
Nicks said she is most concerned about the effects of the EPA’s actions in marginalized areas. These “are communities where there’s disparate access to healthcare, and other co-morbidities are really intensifying the risks to cancers and adverse health outcomes,” Nicks said. “Weakening the protections of our drinking water, which is a human necessity and a human right, will only intensify those risks. This is especially dangerous and disheartening at a time where we’re trying to work really hard to make progress towards safer drinking water, especially within underserved communities.”
“These communities are communities where there’s disparate access to healthcare; and other comorbidities are really intensifying the risks to cancers and adverse health outcomes.“
Olena Nicks, Nassau County Legislator
The legislators also expressed frustration and concern about the potentially adverse impacts that the Trump administration’s funding cuts will have on the EPA.
Nicks emphasized that she wants Congress to secure full funding for the EPA, imploring lawmakers to reject any attempts to weaken regulations that protect communities from harmful contaminants in drinking water.
Davis agreed. “We’re together for one purpose: to shine a light on the practical aspects of what is going on in Long Island and what will happen as a result of the rollbacks by the administration in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “So, we’re asking our congressional delegation to please do your very best to restore those [funds] and shine a light on the practical consequences of what happens as a result.”
Jessica Varghese, an associate nursing professor at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury and a 23-year nurse professional, was concerned not only that the EPA was weakening Biden’s PFAS regulation, but also that it may weaken limits on other harmful chemicals, such as 1,4-dioxane, TCE (trichloroethylene) and PCE (perchloroethylene).
“Although the EPA has not yet banned 1,4-dixaone, it has begun the regulatory process under the Toxic Substances Control Act,” Varghese said. “Another alarming example is the delay of the critical EPA rule to ban and phase out the toxic industrial solvents TCE and PCE. The Trump administration’s decision to delay the ban and weaken the EPA’s performance authority is endangering communities in New York and across the country.”
Meanwhile, Zeldin said last Wednesday that the agency is “on a path to uphold the nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. recently addressed the issue of PFAS being found on cattle farms in northern Texas. He told WFAA in Dallas, “We want to end the production of PFAS. I think that’s what we have to do. There’s a lot of pressure on the industry to stop using it. That’s really, you know, ultimately what’s going to be the solution.”
