Veteran environmental attorney Phil Comella joins host Sean Grady on the Environmental Transformation Podcast to break down the EPA’s proposed rollback of PFAS drinking water regulations. With over 40 years of experience, Comella offers expert legal insight on how the delayed compliance deadlines, potential MCL reductions, and CERCLA implications could affect municipalities, water utilities, waste management companies, and communities already exposed to PFAS. The conversation covers legal risks, scientific uncertainty, and the regulatory gaps that complicate cleanup and accountability.
📍 Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction and Phil Comella’s background
2:42 – What the EPA’s PFAS proposal actually means
6:30 – Delays, politics, and public health impact
10:10 – Why the proposed changes matter for communities
14:50 – Legal risk for utilities, ratepayers, and manufacturers
19:25 – Superfund and the challenge of hazardous substance listings
24:40 – The case for a dedicated PFAS statute
28:35 – Wastewater treatment, landfills, and managing leachate
33:45 – PFAS in household products and regulatory blind spots
38:50 – Exposure, science, and tort law consequences
44:25 – Thoughts on the path forward for EPA regulation
50:00 – Dark Waters, science-based policy, and legal legacy
🧪 Get expert legal context on one of today’s most pressing environmental health challenges.
