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October 15, 2026
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Charissee Ridgeway, Senior Communications Advisor
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New Report: North Carolinians Face Growing Health Risks
as U.S. EPA Weakens Pollution Safeguards
Informed by former EPA experts and NC environmental organizations, the analysis details how federal rollbacks will leave North Carolinians more exposed to PFAS, coal ash, pollution from animal agriculture waste, and pesticides.
RALEIGH, NC — A new state-focused report warns that North Carolinians are now facing even greater health risks due to recent U.S. EPA actions that are weakening protections as the state already grapples with some of the nation’s most serious pollution threats—PFAS “forever chemicals,” coal ash, animal agriculture waste, and pesticide challenges.
The report—North Carolina Left Exposed: How EPA Rollbacks Are Increasing Pollution Risks and Shifting More of the Burden to North Carolina Families—was informed by former EPA experts living in North Carolina and organizations working across the state to address these pollution challenges. It was released today by the Environmental Protection Network (EPN), a nonpartisan nonprofit bringing together former EPA leaders and staff, some of the nation’s top experts on pollution and human health, who volunteer their expertise to advise policymakers and the public on the health implications of industrial pollution and appropriate regulatory safeguards.
Developed by EPN with guidance from volunteers of its North Carolina Action Network—a state-focused effort connecting former EPA experts with local partners—the report details how federal delays, weakened standards, and rollbacks leave North Carolina more vulnerable to four major sources of pollution. These rollbacks transfer more responsibility for public protection to state regulators and local governments while leaving families to bear more of the health and financial costs. Alongside the report, EPN and its North Carolina Action Network are launching a statewide petition asking the state’s congressional delegation to use its oversight and budget authority to ensure the EPA does its job and puts public health first.
“When the EPA weakens federal protections and enforcement of public health standards, North Carolinians pay the price in their health and their pocketbooks,” said Laura McKelvey, former EPA Group Leader for the Community and Tribal Programs Group in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). “Federal rollbacks shift the financial and health burdens onto state regulators, taxpayers, and everyday families. While our state works to protect its people, North Carolina cannot replace federal standards and enforcement alone. We are rallying North Carolinians behind this petition to send an unmistakable message to Congress: use your authority to ensure the EPA restores its core mission and keeps our families safer, not sicker.”
The report outlines EPA actions and associated health risks across four major pollution threats:
- PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Water Pollution from Industry Waste: Industrial discharges continue to contaminate drinking-water supplies in North Carolina, including releases from the Chemours facility into the Cape Fear River. The report points to several EPA proposals that could allow PFAS to remain in drinking water longer—including proposals to delay compliance with PFOA and PFOS drinking water standards until 2031 and eliminate federal limits for other PFAS, including GenX, as well as EPA’s failure to release a completed PFNA health assessment. These actions could delay treatment or remove federal protections for communities exposed to PFAS linked to cancer, liver damage, and reproductive harm.
- Coal Ash Water, Air, and Soil Pollution from Coal Power Generation: Despite state-level cleanup mandates, EPA’s delay of stronger power plant wastewater protections, proposed weakening of coal ash safeguards, and repeal of stronger air-emission requirements, and federal incentives and orders to keep aging coal plants open past planned retirements threaten groundwater, rivers, and regional air quality with heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury. Exposure increases cancer risks, reproductive harm, neurological damage, and respiratory illness, especially for workers and nearby private well users.
- Water and Air Pollution from Animal Agriculture Waste: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in eastern North Carolina—many located near low-income communities and where people of color live—continue to pollute waterways and air through large open-air liquid waste lagoons and the spraying of animal waste onto fields. EPA is now compounding those risks by proposing to leave more water bodies near CAFOs without federal protection from the Clean Water Act, stalling efforts to evaluate air emissions hazards from these operations, and eliminating federal tools and scientific expertise used to identify neighborhoods already facing unusually high levels of pollution. Exposure to this pollution increases risks of kidney disease, anemia, lower birth weights, cancer, and respiratory impacts.
- Pesticide Exposure from Crop Agriculture: Farmworkers, applicators, and rural well owners face elevated risks from toxic agricultural chemicals. The report cites EPA delays in restricting harmful pesticides, approval of PFAS-containing pesticides on food crops, and federal actions prioritizing glyphosate production despite concerns about cancer risks. Exposure to harmful pesticides is also linked to neurological harm, hormone disruption, and reproductive complications.
The report also highlights growing pollution risks from AI data centers. In August, North Carolina approved permits for 645 diesel engines supporting Amazon’s massive Richmond County data center. An NC State researcher found that the separate permit applications understated the project’s combined potential emissions, raising concerns about local air quality.
But the pollution risks extend well beyond data center sites. EPN’s recent national report, The Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers, cites research projecting that under a high-growth scenario, data-center-related air pollution could contribute to 1,300 premature deaths, 600,000 asthma symptom cases, and $20.9 billion in annual public-health costs nationwide by 2028. More than 90% of the modeled health impacts come from power plants supplying electricity, not on-site generators. The burden is also unevenly distributed, with estimated health costs per household in the hardest-hit counties reaching seven times the national average. These projections do not account for recent federal pollution safeguard rollbacks, which could make the health burden even greater.
“North Carolinians have a unique understanding of the deadly risks posed by Forever Chemicals in the air and water. Delays and rollbacks in basic federal protections like drinking water standards for PFAS leave North Carolina families exposed to more water pollution and the resulting health hazards,” said Stephanie Bishop Schweickert, Director of Environmental Health Campaigns at NC Conservation Network.
“North Carolina communities are already living with the cumulative impacts of decades of pollution—from PFAS contamination and coal ash to CAFOs and pesticides. Now our communities have an additional burden of AI Data Centers, bringing in further PFAS pollution,” said Rania Masri, Director of Organizing and Policy Co-Director at NC Environmental Justice Network.
“It is the EPA’s duty to regulate pollution and hold polluters accountable. EPN’s North Carolina Left Exposed report empowers residents to learn about pollution sources and their impacts—like contributing to poor air quality—while providing actionable steps to safeguard community health. When the EPA doesn’t protect people from poor air quality—from coal plants and vehicles—children suffer the most. Children in North Carolina deserve to breathe clean air, which means strong federal safeguards must be put in place, not rolled back,” said Ashley Hillard, North Carolina Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force.
To address these compounding risks, the report calls on EPA to restore and enforce pollution safeguards and on Congress to use its oversight and budget authority to ensure the agency has the staff and resources needed to protect public health. Without effective federal safeguards, North Carolina families can be left facing higher out-of-pocket costs for bottled water, home filtration systems, private well testing, medical bills, and missed days of work and school.
Read the full North Carolina Left Exposed report at SaferNotSicker.org.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
The Environmental Protection Network is a nonpartisan organization comprising more than 800 former EPA scientists, toxicologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and policy analysts— many of whom spent decades as career experts inside the agency. They assessed cancer and developmental risks, studied links between pollution and fertility and chronic disease, investigated contaminated communities, and brought enforcement actions to hold corporate polluters accountable. EPN was founded in 2017 to serve as an independent voice promoting science-based policies that protect families’ health.
ABOUT EPN’S NORTH CAROLINA ACTION NETWORK
EPN’s North Carolina Action Network connects former EPA experts living in the state with local advocates and partner organizations. The Network’s volunteers bring technical expertise and local perspective to environmental health issues affecting North Carolina, helping communities understand how federal EPA decisions affect them.