DEP to dispute EPA termination of $1 million grant to address toxic PFAS pollution

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are industrial chemicals linked to increased risks of cancers, high blood pressure and low birth weight. They have an especially toxic legacy in West Virginia.

The Biden administration awarded the $1 million grant. The DEP intended to use it for PFAS action plans to identify and address sources of PFAS in raw water sources of public water drinking water systems. PFAS have been found in drinking water samples from public water systems throughout the state, many at levels far beyond proposed federal standards.

The EPA said in a March 12 memorandum to the DEP it was terminating the grant “in its entirety effective immediately on the grounds that the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.�

The EPA told the DEP the grant was inconsistent with its priorities because it funds programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental justice or other initiatives that conflict with its policy under the Trump administration of not funding such measures.

The Gazette-Mail obtained the memorandum via a state Freedom of Information Act request.

The EPA had selected the DEP for the $1 million grant through the EPA’s Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program, which has provided funding at the state and local levels to support government activities in partnership with community-based organizations that result in environmental or public health impacts in communities bearing disproportionate environmental harms.

The program was created through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act passed with no Republican support by a then-Democratic-controlled Congress.

The DEP planned to work mainly with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition to develop the PFAS action plans by designing a community engagement process.

West Virginia Rivers Coalition deputy director Autumn Crowe said the funding termination means not only the loss of momentum but three community-based, short-term contract positions that were creating career opportunities in West Virginia. Crowe said three local ambassadors already had been hired to lead work under the grant.

The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.

“[The] Rivers [Coalition] is committed to continuing our partnership with the DEP, and we are hopeful the funding will be restored so we can resume this essential work without further disruption,� Crowe said.

DEP says it’s filing formal grant termination dispute

DEP spokesperson Terry Fletcher said Tuesday the DEP is filing a formal grant termination dispute and coordinating with the Rivers Coalition on next steps and potential solutions to the funding disruption.

The DEP had overseen strategic upfront work that used $19,000 of the grant funding, according to Fletcher. The DEP had completed early steps and achieved grant work plan goals. Those goals, Fletcher indicated, included:

• Developing community engagement research methods and best practices
• Coordinating with the Rivers Coalition to identify and engage community representatives and stakeholders
• Executing agreements and contracts to perform work
• Preparing a quality assurance project plan
• Starting collection and analysis of environmental data

The DEP was on schedule to meet all grant deadlines prior to the funding termination, according to Fletcher.

The department remains committed to fulfilling requirements established by a 2023 state law designed to address PFAS, Fletcher said.

Per that law, House Bill 3189, for each public water system for which measured PFAS in treated water is above detection levels and above applicable EPA drinking water human health advisories, the DEP would have to write a PFAS action plan to address PFAS sources for the public water system’s raw water sources. The first 50 such plans must be completed by the end of 2025 under HB 3189, and the remaining plans must be done by the end of 2026.

PFAS long have been used in everyday products because they repel water, grease and stains. They can be ingested through air, drinking water, food packaged in PFAS-containing material, use of PFAS-made products and eating fish caught from water contaminated by the chemicals.

In 1951, DuPont began using perfluorooctanoic acid, one of the most common PFAS, known as PFOA, to make Teflon-related products at its Washington Works facility near Parkersburg. The chemical discharged into drinking water supplies.

People living in the area experienced increased rates of testicular and kidney cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Now operated by Chemours, the Washington Works facility has persisted as a PFAS pollution hot spot in recent years.

In December, the Rivers Coalition filed a federal lawsuit against Chemours to stop alleged permit exceedances for pollution discharges into the Ohio River.

The Greater Cincinnati Water Works is concerned elevated PFAS levels reportedly being discharged by Chemours may pose an increased public health risk to Kentucky and Ohio communities that use the Ohio River as their drinking water source, according to testimony filed in the case in February.

Rivers Coalition: EPA funds were ‘critical component’

Crowe said the EPA funding was a “critical component� in implementing HB 3189, called the PFAS Protection Act. Project leaders had finished a community engagement design strategy and were preparing to launch community forums, Crowe said.

The Rivers Coalition is seeking other funding options, Crowe said, adding that the group was fighting PFAS pollution beyond the grant through mini-grants to test for PFAS in private wells and collaborated with partners to expand outreach and education.

Crowe cited partnerships with local community groups like Rotary Club to attend events and podcasts, also recalling the coalition’s participation in a virtual roundtable series focused on health impacts of PFAS contamination in West Virginia and presented by a West Virginia University science engagement network.

“The more information a community has about threats to drinking water sources, the more we can all be part of solutions to make our water safer,� then-Rivers Coalition executive director Angie Rosser told the Gazette-Mail in 2023 after the DEP was selected for the $1 million award.

EPA implemented PFAS standard after grant pick

In May 2023, the then-state Department of Health and Human Resources and DEP said 27 out of 37 public water systems in West Virginia sampled showed detectable levels of select PFAS in drinking water samples, per results released by the U.S. Geological Survey.

In 2024, the EPA released the first ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard for PFAS.

The new standard requires public water systems to monitor levels of PFAS in drinking water and notify the public of any exceedances of legally enforceable levels.

The Biden-era EPA estimated roughly 6% to 10% of 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to the rule may have to take action to meet the new standards.

The EPA’s final rule amended proposed rulemaking to add two years for public drinking water systems to implement solutions to lower PFAS. EPA officials said they made that move to give utilities more time to buy, install and operate new technologies. The rule gave systems five years to implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water.

‘An unconscionable betrayal’

But the EPA has signaled it will relax PFAS oversight under the rule under new Trump-appointed Administrator Lee Zeldin.

In a Tuesday federal court filing, the EPA asked to keep on hold a lawsuit led by the American Water Works Association, a group of utilities contesting the new PFAS standard as the EPA reviews the underlying rule. The EPA said in the filing it was reviewing issues presented in the case and developing a position on how to proceed in the litigation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to keep the case on hold until May 12.

Compliance with the new rule will cost roughly $1.5 billion annually, the EPA said last year under Biden. Critics of the EPA’s PFAS oversight have said legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels in the range set by the EPA could introduce heavy cost burdens on water utilities and their customers.

But West Virginia Rural Water Association executive director Todd Grinstead told the Gazette-Mail last year the PFAS levels set by the EPA’s rule were reasonable.

On Trump’s second day after retaking office in January, his administration rescinded a separate, proposed rule that set effluent limit guidelines and standards for PFAS-polluting chemical manufacturers.

Trump has claimed he wants to ensure “the very cleanest air and cleanest water,� but his administration’s cancellation of support to address PFAS in West Virginia threatens to push the state away from that goal.

“It’s an unconscionable betrayal of the public’s health in favor of corporate interests, and it underscores this administration’s troubling shift in policy which threatens to roll back any progress to protect our environment and hold polluters accountable,� Melanie Benesh, government affairs vice president at the Environmental Working Group, an environmental health research group, said in a statement about the effluent limit rule proposal withdrawal.