Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) has called for Congressional action in response to a recent report that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing a plan to refrain from regulating PFOS and PFOA, chemicals found in some household products and firefighting foams.

In 2016, studies revealed that the City of Newburgh’s municipal water supply was contaminated by PFOS and PFOA runoff from firefighting foam at Stewart Air National Guard Base. Although safe alternative water sources have been in use for years, many of the city’s residents show blood levels of PFOS and PFOA above the national average, and the original water source contains levels of PFOS and PFOA above what the EPA has deemed to be safe.

“People in Newburgh were put in danger when their drinking water was contaminated with PFOS – we can’t let the EPA get away with turning their backs on us and refusing to regulate chemicals we know are dangerous,” said Maloney. “If the EPA has decided to protect polluters instead of human health, it’s up to Congress to pass legislation to force them to do the right thing.”

At the direction of Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, the EPA is reportedly preparing a plan to decline to regulate PFOS and PFOA in drinking water nationwide even though studies have found that it can be damaging to human health. Last year, after news reports revealed that former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and other administration officials conspired to cover up the results of a study on the health effects of PFOS and PFOA exposure, Maloney demanded that the EPA and Department of Health and Human Services immediately release the results of the study.

The draft study was ultimately released the next month.