Sen. Hassan Calls for Release of PFAS Study Blocked By EPA

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan and the state's congressional delegation are urging the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services to release a draft health study that concludes PFAS chemicals can harm human health at levels far lower than the EPA has acknowledged.

The New Hampshire congressional delegation, led by U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, sent a letter to the heads of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services demanding they immediately release a draft health study that concludes polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals are a danger to human health at levels far lower than the EPA has acknowledged.

In a letter to the EPA, delegates wrote that they were "gravely concerned that the findings have been kept from the public" and urged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and DHHS Secretary Alex Azar II to release it immediately.

“It is unacceptable and irresponsible that release of this study has been blocked for five months out of fear it would create a ‘potential public relations nightmare,’” the delegation wrote. “Families who have been exposed to emerging contaminants deserve to know about any potential health impacts that the contaminants may involve, and it is completely unacceptable that your agencies are withholding science based information and failing to provide details to these families.”

On Monday, Politico reported Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was preparing to publish a study that would show that the chemicals endanger human health at a far lower level than EPA has previously called safe.

In a statement last week, Sen. Hassan said that the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) would conduct a national study looking at potential health impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.

Thousands of people working at the former Pease Air Force Base -- along with children and infants who attended two day-care centers there -- were exposed to multiple PFAS chemicals from contaminated water in the city-owned Haven well. According to Air Force officials. the well was contaminated by firefighting foam used at the base.

“Families who have been exposed to emerging contaminants in their drinking water deserve to know about any potential health impacts, and conducting a national study at Pease examining the health and safety impacts of PFAS chemicals is critical to those efforts,” Senator Hassan said in a statement.. “I am pleased that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has recognized the tireless efforts of Seacoast community leaders who have spoken out and demanded answers about any threat they’ve faced from their drinking water. This study will provide valuable information for all families who have been exposed to PFCs. I will continue working with Senator Shaheen and the entire Congressional delegation to ensure that this study is conducted as quickly as possible so that families get the answers about their health that they deserve.”

In the Senate, Senator Hassan has built on those efforts, cosponsoring legislation that requires the EPA to develop a maximum contaminant level for perfluorinated compounds, 1,4 dioxane, and perchlorate in public water systems across America within two years of the bill’s enactment.

Senator Hassan also urged the U.S. Air Force to clean up water supplies at the former Pease Air Force Base that are contaminated with PFCs and helped secure funding for the first nationwide PFC water contamination study in the bipartisan omnibus funding bill that passed earlier this year.

Courtesy Photo / Patch File Photo