Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
Fearing a public relations nightmare, Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the Trump administration decided to withhold a study for 6 months that detailed drinking water contamination at more than 125 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps bases from toxic perfluoroalkyls (PFAS) exposure. Before the report release, the EPA had been assuring military members that higher levels of PFAS exposure were safe, but the new report details the safe levels of PFAS are much lower, meaning the more than 3 million military members, military families and veterans who get their drinking water from from Department of Defense systems are all at greater risk.
Going against their wishes, on Wednesday, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services quietly published its 852-page PFAS review. According to the report, military personnel and veterans are particularly at risk from PFAS exposure because of the chemical compounds extensive and long term use in the firefighting foams used in training exercises at military bases across the country which have now leaked into the groundwater and drinking water supply at the military facilities.
In response Sierra Club Resist Campaign director Maura Cowley released the following statement:
“Here are the facts: Trump and Pruitt have conspired to withhold a life-saving study about a toxic chemical found on military bases and in our communities strictly because of the negative press it might bring. Poisoning those who put their lives on the line for our safety is inexcusable. Trump and Pruitt are proving every day that they will put themselves before everything else, including the well-being of those who serve our country every day. This isn’t leadership; this is caring about your own political agenda more than American lives.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.