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Shane Pepe knows exactly how his town’s drinking water has become contaminated with “eternal chemicals” that he recently reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The borough manager in Emmao, Pennsylvania, points to firefighter training facilities as an average source of pollution 32 times the federal restrictions over the past year. For decades, fires containing PFAs, including PFAs, have permeated during training exercises.
“While our firefighters were practicing to save your life, they didn’t think the water system was poisoned at the same time,” he said.
According to a USA Today analysis of new test results released last week by the EPA, Emmao was one of 839 water systems that averaged EPA restrictions for two eternal chemicals annually. Together, these utilities serve 46 million Americans.
These PFAs, or palmifluoroalkyl substances, are part of a family of chemicals designed to fight off liquids and heat, and are hardly capable of destroying them. They naturally accumulate in the human body, increasing the risk of certain types of cancer and other health problems.
The EPA is nearing the end of the largest PFAS testing initiative in place. This is a three-year effort that requires most public drinking water systems that at least 3,300 customers provide to sample and report measurements of several types of eternal chemicals.
Where contamination is discovered, other drinking water sources should be found and filtration systems should be installed that can remove PFA in the next few years. The deadline was originally set in 2029, but in May the EPA announced an extension plan. The agency also retracted four other types of PFA restrictions set under the Biden administration in 2024.
MAP: Where the water system reported PFAS contamination
Click on the system in the map below to view your PFAS measurements. You can also enter your address in the search box to find the nearest water system. Does the map not appear? click here.
USA Today’s analysis shows that large-scale water utilities are unable to meet EPA standards for two chemicals that are still intended to limit, PFOA and PFOS standards more frequently. Almost a quarter of the system serving more than 100,000 people exceeded the average results, compared to about 8% of those with fewer than 10,000 customers.
However, it is part of a small community that reported eye-opening concentrations of eternal chemicals in drinking water in the latest data release.
Nashville, North Carolina, a town 6,000 east of Raleigh, reported that it measured PFO at 490 parts (PPT) last fall and 200 PPT in March. The EPA limit is 4 PPT, and the average for these samples is 86 times the limit.
The city’s director of public works department did not return a USA Today call requesting comment.
The Borough of Emmao, which lives around 12,000 people just outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, has reported several wells regarding EPA restrictions. Most notably, the Waterworks building, which has averaged 32 limits by PFOS. PFOA was measured high and averaged about five times the limit.
“These firefighting bubble businesses knew what was underwater and didn’t notify anyone,” Pepe said. He added that Emmao refuses to settle $4 million from a class action lawsuit against PFAS makers and instead pursues its own lawsuit to recover damages.
A 3M Co. spokesman did not directly respond to Pepe’s allegations but said it had committed $12 billion to a public water supplier as part of the Settlement Emmao declined. The company plans to halt PFA production by the end of 2025. Dan Turner, a spokesman from another manufacturer appointed by Emmaos in the lawsuit, declined to comment as the lawsuit was underway.
Emmaus discovered contamination through state-mandated testing in late 2021, Pepe said. The utility quickly shut down one well and studied how to improve another well. Emmao residents said they have made it clear that they want to repair Emmao’s water, rather than relying on them by buying water from elsewhere.
Earlier this year, the town won more than $9 million in grants and around $2 million in state loans, setting up four huge treatment tanks filled with granular carbon that could eliminate PFA. Pepe said construction should be completed by June 2026.
Emmao said that it would cost around $100,000 a year to replace the carbon filter, so he would need to raise his water bill slightly to pay for ongoing maintenance on the new tank. But he is grateful that the Pennsylvania Department of Infrastructure Investment grants have the brunt of the costs.
“If we hadn’t got the grant, our people would have immediately paid four times what they would pay today. And that was the next 20-30 years.”
Hundreds of other small water systems face Emmao’s predicament. There, local budgets may not be enough to cover the costs of removing PFA without increasing water bills. Several water operators told USA Today it is not fair to pass these costs to customers, not the manufacturers or processors that created the PFA contamination.
For this reason, an industry group representing water operators sued the EPA last year, claiming that the agency failed to follow the appropriate procedures when approving the new PFA restrictions.
The lawsuit has been pending since President Donald Trump took office, allowing the new administration time to consider the restrictions.
After the EPA announced plans to withdraw PFAS restrictions in May, a federal judge said the agency will now file a lawsuit until September 10th to clarify its position in the lawsuit, according to the latest court filing.
Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, Pepe said the lives and safety of the client must come first.
“We’ve been told by environmental agencies that these chemicals in the water are bad and can cause cancer and other illnesses,” Pepe said. “We have an obligation to mitigate this as quickly as possible, so that’s exactly what we do.”
