The Environmental Protection Agency canceled a research project that looked at new ways to detect “forever chemicals” in the air surrounding Chemours’ Fayetteville Works Plant, according to research participant and local clean water advocate Mike Watters.
The study was led by UNC professor Jason Surratt. Surratt was unavailable for comment, but a member of his lab confirmed that one of the research team’s EPA grants had been canceled.
Administrators at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health said they were not authorized to speak on the status of federal grants and directed CityView’s inquiries to the UNC Office of Sponsored Programs, which did not immediately respond. The EPA refused to disclose the status of the grant or comment on the reason for canceling it.
“I am not authorized to talk to a reporter,” the EPA administrator in charge of the grant told CityView on Monday.
The project, funded with an $800,000 grant from the EPA, was being conducted by the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. The research began in May 2022 and was set to conclude in May 2026, according to the EPA’s description of the project.
The research focused on developing new tools and techniques to quickly and accurately detect a wide range of PFAS chemicals in the air. As part of the study, the researchers collected air samples from locations where private wells had tested positive for PFAS surrounding the Chemours plant. The sampling was intended to help the researchers “understand what types of PFAS might be emitted into N.C. air and chemically transformed during meteorological transport to downwind communities,” Surratt said in 2022.
Watters said he was notified about the cancellation in May. He said he participated in collecting air and water samples for the researchers to analyze from his property, which has a North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality air monitoring station. The project is important, he said, because it could determine the extent to which Chemours’ air pollution control device, which the company was court-ordered to install in 2019, was actually removing PFAS emissions from the Fayetteville Works plant.
“The state and the company have since claimed emission reductions exceeding 99%, presenting an image of environmental stewardship and compliance,” Watters said. “However, this narrative unravels under scrutiny, as independent testing by the Guardian reveals PFAS concentrations up to 30 times higher than state and company reports, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the measures undertaken.”
Though samples have already been collected, Watters worries the funding removal may jeopardize analysis of the data. In an email to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin on Monday, Watters asked why the grant was being revoked.
“Knowing why it was cancelled would assist in attempting to reenergize funding for a very real manner to get real-time data to assist in reducing the impacts,” he said. “I have been actively fighting for the EPA as an intervener against Chemours and the Water Suppliers challenge to the PFAS levels that the EPA have worked hard to establish. The National Drinking Water Standards is very important and these PFAS Chemicals do have impacts to our health. Knowing why funding was cancelled will assist in pushing on congress and state legislatures to enact laws to assist in holding polluters accountable.”
This is not the only PFAS research grant that has been upended under the Trump administration. The EPA recently canceled a $15 million research project studying the impacts of PFAS contamination in agriculture. Research funded by the EPA to study PFAS at universities in other parts of the country has also been cut by the Trump administration, including a study at Princeton University that looked at new ways to biodegrade PFAS.
The EPA under Zeldin’s leadership has said it is dedicated to fighting “forever chemicals.” But environmental advocates say the EPA’s recent actions have cast doubt on that assertion. The EPA recently weakened the first-ever national standards that would have placed enforceable limits on five PFAS, including GenX, in public drinking water.
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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