CALHOUN, Ga. (AP) — Starting in the 1970s, textile mills in northwest Georgia relied on PFAS chemicals to make the carpets they produced more stain-resistant. Some of the chemicals that didn’t stick were flushed into local sewer lines and eventually into the area’s rivers, along with billions of dollars’ worth of industrial wastewater.
Decades later, the odorless, colorless chemical is now ubiquitous across the region, including in the blood of some people. Scientists warn of health risks to humans and wildlife.
While the federal government has not set mandatory limits on PFAS, states have the authority to protect public health and the environment. Instead, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Associated Press and Frontline (PBS) found that while the Georgia Department of Environmental Protection has known about the problem for years, it has done little to address it.
Here are the key takeaways from an ongoing investigation into the toxic legacy of the Southern Carpet Empire.
watch and wait
Everyone in northwest Georgia seems to know someone whose health problems, including certain types of cancer, may be caused by PFAS. This crisis was foreseeable.
Testing by the University of Georgia in 2008 alerted the industry, noting that the local Conasauga River, which supplies drinking water to the region, had “alarmingly high” levels of PFAS. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are often called forever chemicals because they persist in the human body and take decades or longer to break down in the environment. The state’s own testing in 2012 and 2016 confirmed the university’s results. Federal testing still detected PFAS in 2019, a year when major carpet manufacturers said they had stopped using the chemicals.
PFAS end up in tap water because local utilities don’t have advanced and expensive technology to remove them from river water.
Despite growing concerns from scientists and federal regulators about the dangers of PFAS, the Georgia Department of Environmental Protection has issued neither a fish warning to the public nor a ban on alcohol consumption. Today, Georgia still does not regulate PFAS, while other states invest tens of millions of dollars in cleanups and sue polluters to recoup their costs.
Georgia EPA Deputy Administrator Anna Truszczynski said her agency seeks guidance from federal regulators and is waiting for scientists to better understand the risks of PFAS. She said her agency has helped several cities battling pollution by providing testing support, connecting them with potential funding sources and advising on possible filtration technologies.
“We believe there can be a good balance between the environment and the economy,” Truszczynski said. “We don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Jack Murphy said by email that the federal agency is working to provide technical and financial support to the region.
“This is a good result”
In 2008, Georgia EPA leaders met privately with representatives of carpet companies and their trade association, the Carpet and Rug Institute.
Werner Braun, then president of the Carpet Institute, later informed the board of directors of the meeting with then-director Carol Couch and noted that the EPA had “no plans to take regulatory action on PFAS,” according to two transcripts of court testimony. Braun told the board that Couch also said the EPA “may look at this again in five years.”
According to records, the meeting with Couch went well, with one carpet executive thanking attendees for “achieving this good outcome.”
In a text message seeking comment, Couch said PFAS was an “emerging issue” at the time and the EPA had not yet set drinking water standards. The EPA issued its first guidance on PFAS content in 2009.
“With regard to the Carpet Institute, I am not abandoning state regulation of PFAS,” Couch wrote in letters to the AJC and AP. She added that the five-year time frame was typical for new water rules and that in 2008, the EPA “neither had sufficient science, expertise, nor resources to act independently of the EPA.”
Representatives for the Carpet Institute declined to comment. Braun did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Shaw Industries and Mohawk Industries Inc., two of the country’s largest carpet companies, both based in the region, blamed the contamination on their chemical suppliers, which they said for years covered up the dangers of PFAS in their products. Carpet companies say they are following guidance from regulators, noting that there are still no enforced restrictions on these chemicals.
In court documents, chemical suppliers 3M and DuPont said it was the carpet industry, not them, that ultimately put PFAS into northwest Georgia waters.
None of the four companies commented on the matter.
Alabama Red Alert
When PFAS started showing up in Alabama’s drinking water in 2016, local water company officials looked to Georgia for answers.
Eastern Alabama and northwest Georgia share a river system that originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows through both states before ending in Mobile Bay. This watershed provides water for the area’s carpet factories, which use large amounts of water, especially in the dyeing process. It is also a source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people downstream.
After tests showed levels of PFAS in the water exceeded the EPA’s voluntary health guidelines at the time, Alabama’s environmental regulator alerted federal counterparts and asked Georgia’s EPA to help identify the source.
Georgia has known for years that water flowing out of Dalton, the center of the state’s dominant carpet industry, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) upstream, contains high concentrations of PFAS.
Despite Alabama’s emergency request, Georgia’s environmental regulators have not responded in kind, according to interviews and internal government records.
At the time, “the EPA was very defensive,” said Jim Giattina, former director of the EPA’s water protection division, who organized the coordination call between the two states. “They certainly didn’t commit to more surveillance.”
Truszczynski, who joined the EPA in 2016, said she found no record of Georgia’s response.
“We are always excited to work with our friends in Alabama,” she said.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management did not respond to multiple requests for an interview or comment.
Other states have also taken action
Across the United States, PFAS have been produced and used in a variety of products, including nonstick cookware, waterproof sunscreen, firefighting foam, dental floss and microwave popcorn bags.
As the phenomenon becomes more widespread, pollution hotspots are emerging elsewhere.
Some other states are taking a more aggressive approach than Georgia.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine have each invested millions of dollars in cleanups, launched robust testing programs and filed lawsuits to hold polluters and manufacturers accountable.
Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers approved $133 million for PFAS cleanup. That vote capped a long journey for Democratic state Rep. Jill Billings. In 2019, a town in her area discovered contaminated drinking water. Since 2021, residents have been drinking bottled water provided by the state.
Billings said state-led action has become even more important as the federal government withdraws from environmental regulations, including PFAS. While the EPA has not yet implemented mandatory limits on permanent chemicals, the agency’s proposed limits include the two most commonly used by carpet manufacturers. These restrictions will come into effect in 2031.
“I think we have a responsibility to address the problems of ordinary people because the federal government seems to be struggling,” Billings said in an interview. “It’s okay. We’re ready.”
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About cooperation
This report is part of an investigation in partnership with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, FRONTLINE (PBS), The Post and Courier and AL.com, including the FRONTLINE documentary “Contamination: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy.” It is supported by The Associated Press’ Local Investigative Reporting Program and FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by grants from the John S. Knight Foundation and the James L. Knight Foundation.
watch documentary
Watch the documentary “Tainted: The Toxic Legacy of the Carpet Industry” on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, the PBS app, FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel or the PBS Documentaries Prime Video channel.