NY Times uncovers shocking dereliction of duty at the US Environmental Protection Agency

July 12, 2021, Livingston Manor, NY--Hiroko Tabuchi's groundbreaking piece in today’s New York Times sent shock waves through public health and environmental organizations as advocates learned not only that energy companies are using toxic PFAS* “forever” chemicals to frack and drill natural gas wells, but also that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had actually signed off on this process, which poses huge threats to human health and the integrity of our water supply. Click "read more" to see Mountainkeeper's statement.

In response, Catskill Mountainkeeper’s Associate Director, Wes Gillingham, issued the following statement: 

PFAS chemicals are “forever chemicals”--they’ll never break down in the environment, and even minuscule amounts are toxic to humans and other mammals. The idea that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowed their use for gas drilling and fracking--processes known to contaminate groundwater, surface water, and drinking water supplies--is beyond alarming and calls into question EPA’s ability to do its job. EPA must act immediately to ensure that no more PFAS chemicals (or chemicals that combine to create PFAS compounds) are used in fracking or any other industrial processes. And as the Delaware River Basin Commission evaluates its fracking regulations, it must take this critical new information into account and ban the transport, treatment, and discharge of fracking wastes in the Basin.

*PFAS is the acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.