Boyle Leads Renewed Congressional Effort to Fight Drinking Water Contamination Through Defense Funding and EPA Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-13) led bipartisan letters to the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee advocating for funding and regulatory action to support communities that are dealing with contaminated drinking water containing perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). These compounds have been found by a growing volume of peer-reviewed studies to be associated with serious health risks in humans, including certain types of cancers and impaired immune system performance. Highly fluorinated chemicals are found in the bodies of 98% of Americans. The communities surrounding Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove and Horsham Air Guard Station in Pennsylvania are experiencing contamination as a result of the Department of Defense's decades-long use of aqueous forming foam (AFFF) as a fire suppressant, which contains the chemicals.

These efforts are a continuation of the bipartisan House response that began in 2016. Boyle led the House effort to secure an additional $72 million to remediate the contamination and mandate a DOD study and report to Congress on finding safer, effective alternatives to the firefighting foam that caused the contamination. He also helped enact language authorizing a CDC nationwide health study. Now, Boyle is leading the fight to fund the study, and also leading the fight to require the EPA to strictly regulate these chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water Act in accordance with legislation he introduced, H.R. 3106.

"Throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania and across the country, Americans living near military bases and industrial sites continue to suffer health impacts and immense uncertainties as a result of water contamination associated with PFOS and PFOA," said Congressman Boyle. "I was proud to pass bipartisan legislation last year to generate new funding and information about this issue. I won't stop fighting. Those affected deserve more answers to their questions, and the federal government must assume its responsibilities to address this issue comprehensively, and head on. The need for action only grows with our understanding of the magnitude of the problem."

Ameliorating drinking water contamination has been a top priority for Congressman Boyle throughout his tenure in Congress. In September, the House adopted Congressman Boyle's amendment to provide $1.9 million additional funding for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR), the agency heading local medical testing and health studies in response to water contamination stemming from the use of AFFF firefighting chemicals. In June, Boyle re-introduced his bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3106, that would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set an enforceable, nationwide primary drinking water standard for PFCs. In November, the House also passed Boyle's amendment to authorize higher federal spending to remediate the contamination ($42 million for the Navy and $30 million for the Air Force). The package also authorized $7 million in funding for a nationwide study on health effects of PFCs (including PFOA and PFOS), the chemical compounds contained in the firefighting foams, to be conducted by the CDC, and mandated a Department of Defense study and report to Congress on finding safer, effective alternatives to the firefighting foam that caused the contamination that Boyle enacted by amendment.

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