More Cities Are Seeing Pfas Pollution in Drinking Water. Here’s What Louisville Found : Shots – Health News

Louisville’s Drinking Water Contamination: A Closer Look at PFAS Pollution

In November 2025, Louisville, Kentucky found itself grappling with a concerning issue: elevated levels of PFOA and GenX chemicals in its drinking water supply.

The Detection and Investigation

Almost a year ago, workers at the Louisville Water Company noticed an unexpected spike in PFAS levels. The GenX concentration increased 15 times from December 2024 to January 2025, reaching 52 parts per trillion compared to just 3.4 parts per trillion.

Dr. Peter Goodmann, the city utility’s director of water quality and research, explained that “a part per trillion is like one second in 32,800 years.” This measurement underscores the infinitesimal yet significant presence of PFAS in their drinking water.

Tracing the Source

The team traced the chemical upstream along the Ohio River. They discovered the source to be a West Virginia factory near Parkersburg, operated by Chemours Co., which uses GenX to make fluoropolymers for semiconductors.

Chemours’ Washington Works facility has a notorious history of PFAS pollution. A lawyer, Robert Bilott, fought the plant’s previous owner, DuPont, in court and ultimately revealed that the company knew PFOA was toxic but failed to disclose this information.

Health Implications and Regulatory Context

According to Dr. Goodmann, low PFAS concentrations pose risks measured over a lifetime of exposure. Recent data from Louisville shows the city’s drinking water levels fell within planned federal safety limits for 2029.

However, he stressed that people get exposed to PFAS not just through water but also through packaging and food.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long regulated certain contaminants in drinking water like arsenic, E. coli, and lead. But it didn’t issue specific regulations for PFAS until 2024 during the final year of the Biden administration. The new limits apply to six types of PFAS in drinking water starting in 2029, with utilities required to treat contaminated water.

Following Trump’s re-election, his EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would keep regulations for only two types of PFAS: PFOA and PFOS.

The restrictions on other four types, including GenX, were dropped. Moreover, utilities will have until 2031 to comply with remaining rules, in part due to financial burdens.

Chemours’ Response and Legal Challenges

In response to a lawsuit filed by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Chemours denied their discharges are connected to Louisville’s GenX spike. They also claimed that sampling data showed river levels of GenX were “indisputably safe.” However, the coalition said in its court filing that the EPA’s consent order for Chemours is not being diligently prosecuted.

Chemours declined an NPR request for comment but stated that Louisville’s finished drinking water was safe because PFAS levels are below EPA regulatory limits. The federal judge ordered Chemours to immediately stop over-polluting, which the company quickly appealed.

Future Implications and Expert Perspectives

Nick Hart, water policy director for the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, emphasized that “environmental regulatory permitting is a license to pollute.” He stated, “You’re permitting someone to put something into the atmosphere, into water, into soil that would not be there otherwise. And so when we talk about the safe levels… stop using the word ‘safe,’ right? This is the maximum allowable limit.”

Dr.

Goodmann highlighted the challenge in removing PFAS from drinking water. Louisville is spending $23 million to redesign its powdered activated carbon system, a method used for PFAS removal.

The issue underscores the importance of preventing contaminants like PFAS from entering community water supplies before treatment becomes necessary. Hart noted that “preventing pollutants at the source is easier and less costly than removing them downstream.”