Conservation Group Sues EPA over PFAS Contamination in Virginia Waterways

The conservation group Wild Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging the agency failed to protect Virginia’s rivers and streams from PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.”

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are harmful chemicals linked to manufacturing runoff, firefighting materials, and everyday consumer products such as water-resistant clothing and nonstick cookware. Exposure to PFAS has been associated with serious health risks, including cancer and reduced fertility in women.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia, challenges the EPA’s approval of the state’s 2024 water quality report. Wild Virginia argues that the federal agency should have intervened after concluding that Virginia did not do enough to address contaminated waterways. State data shows that several rivers and streams are polluted with PFAS, including the Middle Chickahominy River, which has been under PFAS investigation since 2021.

The EPA has kept National Primary Drinking Water Regulations in place for several PFAS chemicals, establishing limits for what is considered safe in drinking water. However, there are thousands of different PFAS compounds, and regulations often lag behind emerging contamination, leaving many chemicals unregulated.

The complaint points to six years of PFAS data collected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that identified multiple streams with elevated levels of the chemicals. Despite those findings, the lawsuit alleges, some waterways were not classified as “impaired” in the state’s water quality report.

In one case, PFAS levels were so high in the Chichahominy River and White Oak Swamp that DEQ issued a fish tissue consumption advisory in May 2025. The lawsuit claims that despite those warnings, the waters were not listed as impaired in the final report submitted to the EPA.

“There are many other waters around the state where they have data showing PFAS contamination in the surface waters themselves,” said David Sligh, the water quality program director for Wild Virginia. “They mentioned PFAs in their report; they really didn’t do any analysis as to what that means or how those are related to their own water quality standards.”

The EPA finalized its rule on PFAS exposure in drinking water in April 2024.

In its report, the Virginia DEQ wrote: “In December 2024, EPA published draft recommended water quality criteria protective of human health for PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS. These criteria are designed specifically to protect public water supplies and fish consumption and reflect a lifetime exposure duration of 70 years. These criteria will not be considered for adoption in Virginia’s water quality standards regulation until they are finalized by the EPA. Once effective, they would be used to assess waters in subsequent integrated reports.”

Sligh said that the EPA was “required to acknowledge, assess and designate waters that are impaired if their narrative water quality criteria are violated, those criteria say if there are pollutants that are causing toxic or harmful conditions for humans or wildlife, then they’re supposed to count those as standards violations. And so that hasn’t changed, and they didn’t need to wait on anything from the EPA.”

The EPA approved Virginia’s water quality report in July 2025. According to Wild Virginia, the agency acknowledged the state’s PFAS contamination but declined to take enforcement action.

The group argues in its lawsuit that the decision will delay required pollution controls while residents of the commonwealth will continue to be exposed to the chemicals.

The complaint further alleges that the EPA’s inaction violates the federal Clean Water Act. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the agency to identify the PFAS-impaired waters so that pollution reduction plans can be developed and implemented.

In 2024, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law intended to create a statewide plan to  address elevated PFAS levels in waterways and identify pollution sources through self reporting requirements.

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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