Buy Photo Aides to President Trump’s embattled EPA administrator attempted to stop publication of a study into water contamination near military bases nationwide, including former naval bases in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, according to a published report.
When a Trump administration aide said the report would cause a “public relations nightmare,” aides to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the White House sought to block the study from being made public, according to EPA emails released to the Union of Concerned Scientists under the Freedom of Information Act.
Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) on Tuesday said that if the Politico report is true, “the White House should stop blocking the release of this health study.
All of them have had their water tested based on the EPA’s current guidelines.
After the contamination was made public, the military agreed to provide filters for public drinking wells — but only if they contained levels of the chemical above the EPA advisory, which they did for some local private well owners.
In Warminster, Warrington, and Horsham, the towns changed public water systems to ensure there were no chemicals in their drinking water.
Veterans and former civilian employees of the bases — which were mostly closed before the contamination was discovered — have also expressed concern about the chemicals.
Nationwide, 564 public or private drinking water systems near military bases had contamination above the EPA advisory level as of August, the military said in a recent report.
PFOA and PFOS are not among chemicals regulated by the EPA; the agency called its OK-to-drink level a guideline.
The White House referred questions about the issue to the Department of Health and Human Services, Politico said, which confirmed that the study has no scheduled release date.