West Virginia environmental regulators have told the Trump administration that funding it has blocked is critical to providing clean water as they challenge its termination of a $1 million federal grant meant to address toxic pollution.
The state Department of Environmental Protection told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a letter last month it was “legally insufficient†in terminating the grant the EPA selected to award the DEP in 2023 to address a group of harmful chemicals pervading public drinking water systems throughout the state.
Obtained by the Gazette-Mail through a state Freedom of Information Act, the letter was a formal dispute filed by the DEP of the EPA’s March 2025 termination of the grant to develop and pilot a community engagement process to inform action plans to combat PFAS.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are industrial chemicals linked to increased risks of cancers, high blood pressure and low birth weight. They have an especially toxic legacy in West Virginia.
The Biden administration selected the DEP to receive the $1 million grant. The DEP intended to use it for PFAS action plans to identify and address sources of PFAS in raw water sources of public water drinking water systems. PFAS have been found in drinking water samples from public water systems throughout the state, many at levels far beyond proposed federal standards.
The DEP disagrees with the Trump EPA’s determination in a March 12 memorandum the grant award “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities,†Casey Korbini, DEP deputy director for remediation programs, told the EPA in an April 11 letter disputing the grant termination.
Korbini argued that identifying PFAS contamination sources and ways to address them to minimize public water system contamination as intended through the blocked funding “effectuates the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment.â€
“[T]hese funds are vital to ensure that the State of West Virginia has the necessary resources to provide clean public water to its citizens,†Korbini wrote.
The EPA will issue a decision on the dispute within 180 days, Lisa White, EPA mission support division acting director, told Korbini in an April 14 email acknowledging the DEP’s dispute obtained by the Gazette-Mail through a Freedom of Information Act request.
White told Korbini she would consider and issue a decision on the dispute “in a fair and expeditious manner.â€
The EPA told the DEP in March the grant was inconsistent with its priorities because it funds programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental justice or other initiatives that conflict with its policy under the Trump administration of not funding such measures.
The DEP hasn’t received a response from the EPA regarding the dispute aside from the acknowledgment of receipt, DEP Chief Communications Officer Terry Fletcher said Thursday.
In response to a request for comment, an EPA spokesperson noted the agency resolves grant disputes in accordance with federal regulations, under which a designated dispute decision official must issue a decision on disputes within 180 days from the date the dispute was received unless a longer period is deemed necessary based on the complexity of the issues in the dispute.
‘The grant is vital’
The EPA had selected the DEP for the $1 million grant through the EPA’s Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program, which has provided funding at the state and local levels to support government activities in partnership with community-based organizations that make public health impacts in communities bearing disproportionate environmental harms.
The program was created through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act passed with no Republican support by a then-Democratic-controlled Congress.
The DEP planned to work mainly with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition to develop the PFAS action plans by designing a community engagement process.
“The grant is vital†to completing West Virginia action plans to address PFAS, Korbini told White in the April 11 letter. The DEP has met grant requirements and been steadily progressing to accomplish grant goals and workplan tasks, Korbini reported.
Per a 2023 state law, , for each public water system for which measured PFAS in treated water is above detection levels and above applicable EPA drinking water human health advisories, the DEP would have to write a PFAS action plan to address PFAS sources for the public water system’s raw water sources. The first 50 such plans must be completed by the end of 2025 under HB 3189, and the remaining plans must be done by the end of 2026.
Autumn Crowe, deputy director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, told the Gazette-Mail the EPA funding was a “critical component†in implementing HB 3189, called the PFAS Protection Act. Project leaders had finished a community engagement design strategy and were preparing to launch community forums, Crowe said.
DEP objects to grant termination on legal, logistical grounds
The DEP’s grant termination dispute contends none of the conditions in federal code under which the EPA may terminate a federal award apply for the Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program grant it cut off.
Those conditions include EPA:
- Obtaining evidence not considered in making the award that reveals that specific award objectives are ineffective at achieving program goals
- Obtaining evidence causing the EPA to question the feasibility of the intended award objectives
- Determining objectives of the award are no longer consistent with funding priorities for achieving program goals
The DEP’s dispute contends the grant termination violates the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which limits the time frame in which a president may withhold appropriated funds from obligation to 45 days unless Congress has completed action on a bill to rescind the budget authority.
The DEP incurred allowable costs for grant project implementation, including subgrantee and contractor invoices, according to the DEP’s dispute.
When the EPA’s termination notice was received, grant funds were no longer accessible in an application payment system despite the notice stating the DEP could request payment from the system for allowable costs incurred up to the March 12 date of the notice being issued, the DEP said in its dispute message.
The DEP told the EPA it nevertheless had not been able to draw down funds for incurred costs in an approved workplan as of the April 11 date of its grant termination dispute. As of that date, the DEP said it had yet to receive a response after submitting a request for grant access in the application payment system.
Focus on outreach, information-gathering
The Rivers Coalition has been seeking other funding options, Crowe said, adding that the group was fighting PFAS pollution beyond the grant through mini-grants to test for PFAS in private wells and collaborated with partners to expand outreach and education.
Crowe cited partnerships with local community groups like Rotary Club to attend events and podcasts, also recalling the coalition’s participation in a virtual roundtable series focused on health impacts of PFAS contamination in West Virginia and presented by a West Virginia University science engagement network.
“The more information a community has about threats to drinking water sources, the more we can all be part of solutions to make our water safer,†then-Rivers Coalition executive director Angie Rosser told the Gazette-Mail in 2023 after the DEP was selected for the $1 million award.
PFAS found in public water systems across W.Va.
In May 2023, the then-state Department of Health and Human Resources and DEP said 27 out of 37 public water systems in West Virginia sampled showed detectable levels of select PFAS in drinking water samples, per results released by the U.S. Geological Survey.
In 2024, the EPA released the first ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard for PFAS.
The new standard requires public water systems to monitor levels of PFAS in drinking water and notify the public of any exceedances of legally enforceable levels.
Toxic PFAS legacy
PFAS long have been used in everyday products because they repel water, grease and stains. They can be ingested through air, drinking water, food packaged in PFAS-containing material, use of PFAS-made products and eating fish caught from water contaminated by the chemicals.
In 1951, DuPont began using perfluorooctanoic acid, one of the most common PFAS, known as PFOA, to make Teflon-related products at its Washington Works facility near Parkersburg. The chemical discharged into drinking water supplies.
People living in the area experienced increased rates of testicular and kidney cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
Now operated by chemical manufacturer Chemours, the Washington Works facility has persisted as a PFAS pollution hot spot in recent years.
Chemours monitoring results from recent months reviewed by the Gazette-Mail show consistent exceedances of maximum contaminant levels for certain PFAS, in treatment systems to remove those chemicals at the Washington Works site.
In December, the Rivers Coalition filed a federal lawsuit against Chemours to stop alleged permit exceedances for pollution discharges into the Ohio River.
