CEH is proud to partner with six North Carolina allies and grassroots groups who are reactivating a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to grant our petition requiring Chemours to conduct critical health studies on 54 PFAS chemicals to which hundreds of thousands of North Carolina residents are exposed. Our original petition, filed October 14, 2020 in partnership with Advance Carolina, Cape Fear River Watch, Clean Cape Fear, Democracy Green, the NC Black Alliance, and Toxic Free NC, asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require that Chemours fund a comprehensive research strategy to address the concerns of Cape Fear communities who have been exposed for decades to numerous toxic PFAS in their drinking water, air, food, and soil because of pollution from the Chemours facility in Fayetteville. On December 28, 2021, the EPA finally responded to the petition and refused to require nearly all the health studies requested by the Cape Fear communities. Claiming that it was “granting” the petition, in reality, the EPA only agreed to require limited testing on 7 of the 54 PFAS–a move that was disingenuous and disrespectful to the communities affected. The EPA refused to commit to requiring the studies that are most important in understanding the human health effects of long-term PFAS exposure on North Carolina communities. In fact, the EPA provided no assurance that it would require cancer studies on any PFAS; refused to require an epidemiological study on the exposed human population; and declined to require testing of any of the mixtures of PFAS found in drinking water and human blood. For our allies in North Carolina, this is a matter of life and death for their friends and family, and we stand by their right to secure these health studies. CEH is committed to fighting alongside our North Carolina allies until they have the vital health testing they need to understand the health implications from years of exposure and advocate for their collective health.