New EPA data show more towns have PFAS in their water. Is yours one?
The borough manager in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, points to a firefighter training facility as the source of contamination that averaged 32 times the federal limit over the past year. For decades, fire-extinguishing foams containing PFAS seeped into the local aquifer during training exercises.
"While our firefighters are practicing to save your life, they had no idea that at the same time the water system was getting poisoned," he said.
Emmaus was among 839 water systems whose yearly average exceeded EPA limits for two types of forever chemicals, according to a USA TODAY analysis of new test results the EPA released last week. Together, these utilities serve 46 million Americans.
These PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are part of a family of chemicals engineered to repel liquids and heat, making them nearly indestructible. They can build up in nature and in human bodies, increasing the risk of certain types of cancer and other health problems.
The EPA is nearing the end of the largest PFAS testing initiative it's undertaken – a three-year effort that requires most public drinking water systems serving at least 3,300 customers to sample and report measurements for several types of forever chemicals.
Places that have found contamination now need to find other sources of drinking water or install filtration systems that can remove the PFAS within the next few years. That deadline was originally set for 2029, but in May, the EPA announced plans for an extension. The agency also rescinded limits on four other types of PFAS set under the Biden administration in 2024.
MAP: Where water systems reported PFAS contamination
Click on a system in the map below to review its PFAS measurements. You may also enter an address in the search box to locate the nearest water systems. Don't see a map? Click here.
USA TODAY's analysis shows larger water utilities more frequently fail to meet the EPA's standards for the two chemicals it still plans to limit: PFOA and PFOS. Nearly a quarter of systems serving over 100,000 people had average results exceeding the limit, compared to about 8% of those with fewer than 10,000 customers.
But in the latest data release, it's some of the smaller communities that have reported the most eye-popping concentrations of forever chemicals in their drinking water.
Nashville, North Carolina, a town of 6,000 east of Raleigh, reported one well that measured PFOS at 490 parts per trillion (ppt) last fall and then at 200 ppt in March. The EPA limit is 4 ppt, which puts the average of those samples 86 times over the limit.
The city's director of public works did not return USA TODAY's calls requesting comment.
The borough of Emmaus, which is home to about 12,000 people just outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, reported several wells over EPA limits – most notably at its waterworks building, where PFOS averaged 32 times over the limit. PFOA also measured high, averaging about five times above the limit.
'These firefighting foam companies knew what was in the water and never notified anybody,' Pepe said. He added that Emmaus declined a $4 million settlement from a class-action lawsuit against PFAS manufacturers and is instead pursuing its own lawsuit to recover damages.
A spokesperson from the 3M Co. didn't respond directly to Pepe's allegation, but said they've committed $12 billion to public water suppliers as part of the settlement Emmaus declined. The company plans to stop manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025. Spokesman Dan Turner of the DuPont Co., another manufacturer that Emmaus named in its lawsuit, declined to comment since the litigation is ongoing.
Emmaus discovered the contamination through state-mandated testing in late-2021, Pepe said. The utility immediately shut down one well and studied how to remedy another well. Residents of Emmaus made it clear they wanted to fix Emmaus' water, Pepe said, rather than becoming dependent by buying water from elsewhere.
Earlier this year, the town won over $9 million in grant funding and a nearly $2-million loan from the state to install four enormous treatment tanks filled with granular-activated carbon able to filter out PFAS. Pepe said construction should finish by June 2026.
Emmaus will need to raise water rates slightly to pay for ongoing maintenance to the new tanks, Pepe said, since it costs about $100,000 per year to replace the carbon filters. But, he's thankful the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority's grant will bear the brunt of costs.
'Had we not gotten the grant,' Pepe said, 'instantly our folks would have been paying four times what they pay today. Instantly. And that would have been for the next 20 to 30 years.'
Hundreds of other small water systems face Emmaus' predicament, where local budgets may not suffice to cover the cost to remove PFAS without raising water rates. Several water utility officials have told USA TODAY it's not fair to pass these costs on their customers rather than the manufacturers and processors that created the PFAS contamination.
Because of this, industry groups representing water utilities sued the EPA last year, claiming the agency did not follow proper procedures when approving the new PFAS limits.
The lawsuit has been on hold since shortly after President Donald Trump took office, to allow the new administration time to review the limits.
After the EPA announced plans to rescind some PFAS limits in May, a federal judge said the agency now has until Sept. 10 to clarify its position in the lawsuit, according to the latest court filing.
Regardless of the lawsuit's outcome, Pepe said his customers' lives and safety must come first.
'We are being told by environmental agencies that these chemicals in the water are bad and have the potential to cause cancer and other illnesses,' Pepe said. 'We have a duty to mitigate this as quickly as possible, and so that's exactly what we're doing.'
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