The enforcement action is “significant”, said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist now with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility non-profit. But she said it represented “baby steps” and questioned why the EPA was allowing such high levels of PFAS to be disgorged into the Ohio River and why more pollution permits do not have PFAS restrictions.
“It’s great that EPA is enforcing against Chemours for point source PFAS discharges, but this is the exception and not the rule. It should be the rule,” she said.
Chemours did not say how it plans to control the pollution, but told the Guardian that it “worked with EPA to agree to a consent decree and will continue to take action to address the legacy deposition that have contributed to many of the exceedances”.