In the News

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was interviewed in this news segment discussing how budget cuts proposed by House Republicans for FY 2024 would severely limit EPA’s ability to address PFAS contamination in many drinking water systems.

Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator, was quoted in this article regarding an enforcement suit EPA has brought against Inhance Technologies, a company that creates PFAS as a byproduct of the fluorination process it uses to strengthen plastic containers.

Stan Meiburg, former EPA Acting Deputy Administrator and former Regional Administrator, EPA Regions 4 and 6, was quoted in this article discussing how the Biden administration’s push for more federal employees to return to work in the office could

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, and John Reeder, Vice President of Federal Affairs at Environmental Working Group and former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff, were quoted in this article discussing how the House Republicans’ proposed FY2024 budget would slash much of the funding needed for EPA and other federal agencies to address PFAS. Betsy was quoted in a related article published in StateImpact Pennsylvania.

Dave Coursen, former Attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, wrote this op-ed on August 1, 2022, discussing how the Inflation Reduction Act will help EPA address the challenges of climate change and support environmental and climate justice.

John Bachmann, former Associate Director for Science/Policy and New Programs, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, was quoted in this article discussing the implications of postponing the tightening of EPA’s air quality standards for ground-level ozone.

Jim Woolford former Director, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), was quoted in this article discussing how the Biden administration’s plan to list two PFAS “forever chemicals” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) may put Democrats in a political corner.

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Office of Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted and EPN was mentioned in this article about EPA’s initial release of testing data that found multiple PFAS in public drinking water systems.

Tracey Woodruff, Director of Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California, San Francisco, and former EPA senior scientist and former Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Policy, was quoted in this article discussing trichlorethylene contamination in Milwaukee and the inability of many toxic regulators to keep on top of numerous legacy contaminants.

Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics and former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, wrote this op-ed urging for new plastics reduction laws and a federal ban on vinyl chloride.

Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics and former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, was quoted in this article discussing EPA’s recent announcement that it may begin a formal risk evaluation of vinyl chloride.

Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, penned this op-ed explaining why re-opening the Palisades nuclear plant, located on the shores of Lake Michigan, would be a bad and costly idea for Michigan taxpayers.

Robert Verchick, former EPA Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy, was interviewed in this news segment discussing climate resiliency and the steps the Biden administration is taking to mitigate the effects of climate change, particularly for rural and disadvantaged urban communities.

Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics and former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, was quoted in this article regarding Beyond Plastics’ and other advocacy organizations’ call on EPA to begin a safety assessment on vinyl chloride under TSCA to lead to its eventual ban.

Jeff Alson, former Senior Engineer and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, was quoted in this article regarding EPA’s recently-proposed vehicle emissions standards and industry anticipation of the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration’s release of their Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

Dave Coursen, former Attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, penned this op-ed discussing the House Republicans proposed budget for EPA, which would slash agency funding by 40% if enacted, blocking development of new programs and forcing cuts to existing programs.

Bernie Goldstein, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, co-authored this op-ed about particulate matter from wildfire smoke and other sources of air pollution and what needs to be done to combat poor air quality due to climate change.

Kristi Smith, counsel to advocacy groups challenging Clean Air Act permitting practices in Alabama and former Attorney, EPA Office of General Counsel, was quoted in this article discussing EPA’s unanticipated decision to close investigations of civil rights complaints against Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health.

Tracey Woodruff, Director of the University of California San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and former Senior Scientist and Policy Advisor, EPA Office of Policy, was quoted in this article about a study she co-led that found several harmful chemicals, including the PFAS chemical PFOS, in the blood of pregnant women who participated in the research.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, was quoted in this article about the low public awareness of PFAS’ ubiquity in drinking water systems.

This article discussing environmental groups’ concerns that Congress will permit CERCLA liability exemptions for industries that discharge PFAS quoted EPN’s letter to the Senate Environmental and Public Works committee on their proposed PFAS bill.

Linda Birnbaum, former Director of the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, was quoted in this article regarding an investigation that found soil contamination from lead-covered cables abandoned by phone companies. She was quoted in a related article in Yahoo! News.

Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics and former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2, wrote this op-ed discussing how plastic and the chemicals associated with plastic threaten our health, the environment, and climate.

Bob Sussman, former EPA Deputy Administrator, was quoted in this article about the shortcomings of EPA’s new framework for reviewing new PFAS and significant new uses of existing PFAS.