CLF appeals EPA permit allowing PFAS discharges from Manchester wastewater plant

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has filed an appeal challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to reissue a Clean Water Act permit that allows the Manchester Wastewater Treatment Facility in New Hampshire to continue discharging PFAS into the Merrimack River. The appeal, submitted to the Environmental Appeals Board, argues that EPA failed to follow federal law and its own policies when issuing the permit.

“Everyone deserves safe, clean water – it’s that simple,” said CLF Associate Attorney Jillian Aicher in a press release. “By ignoring clear evidence that PFAS discharges threaten our waterways, our ecosystems, and our health, the EPA is failing in its most basic duty – to protect our communities and our natural resources. It’s essential that EPA step up and fulfill this duty by reducing toxic PFAS pollution.”

CLF contends that EPA did not adequately consider whether PFAS limits were necessary to meet state water quality standards and failed to follow its environmental justice policy, despite the facility’s location in an overburdened community. Manchester’s plant—the largest in northern New England and the only one in the state that incinerates sewage sludge—receives PFAS-containing wastewater from industrial users and discharges PFAS to the Merrimack River, a drinking water source for downstream communities.

The organization is asking the Environmental Appeals Board to rule that EPA violated the law and to remand the permit so PFAS controls and environmental justice considerations can be properly evaluated.