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EPA-Approved Fracking Chemicals Include ‘Forever Chemicals’

Bastiaan Slabbers
/
WHYY
Detailed view on the newly installed system to filter out PFAS Forever Chemicals at Well #2 of the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority facility in Horsham, Pa., on August 22, 2019.

A new report reveals the EPA approved the use of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” to frack oil and gas wells. The non-profit Physicians for Social Responsibility used public records to detail use of the class of chemicals in oil and gas drilling. WHYY’s Susan Phillips reports.

(Original air-date: 7/15/21)

Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." Along with her reporting partner Scott Detrow, she won the 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. She recently returned from a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.