‘This issue is deeply personal’| Georgia congressman forms caucus to fight PFAS pollution

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A northwest Georgia congressman has formed what he calls a bipartisan congressional caucus focused on PFAS pollution, adding a new push on Capitol Hill to address the “forever chemicals” at the center of years of concern about drinking water and possible health effects in the region.

U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller, a Republican who represents Georgia’s 14th congressional district, announced the creation of the Southeastern PFAS Caucus and said it would work to find solutions and secure funding for cleanup.

The announcement comes after extensive reporting by Atlanta News First Investigative Reporter Andy Pierrotti, who documented PFAS contamination concerns in communities including Dalton, Calhoun and Rome, as well as questions about exposure, legal responsibility and the cost of removing the chemicals from water.

“At 31 years old, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which I believe may have been linked to environmental issues in the north Georgia community where I grew up,” Fuller said. “This issue is deeply personal to me.”

Researchers have linked exposure to certain PFAS with some health problems and cancers, but a person’s diagnosis or PFAS blood level alone cannot establish that the chemicals caused an individual illness.

Fuller identified U.S. Reps. Laurel Lee and Brian Mast, both Florida Republicans, and Darren Soto of Florida and Deborah Ross of North Carolina, both Democrats, as founding members of the caucus. He encouraged other lawmakers to join.

“PFAS eradication and cleanup is one of the most pressing issues for our district and our people,” Fuller said. “I have been fighting to solve this issue since arriving in Congress, and one important step in that fight is building a bipartisan coalition.”

What is PFAS?

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a large group of manufactured chemicals used in products designed to resist water, stains, grease and heat. They have been used in products ranging from nonstick cookware and firefighting foam to stain-resistant carpet.

They are often called “forever chemicals” because many break down very slowly and can remain in the environment for long periods. Some can also build up in the human body.

In northwest Georgia, the carpet industry has featured prominently in litigation over PFAS. Lawsuits have alleged that chemicals used in manufacturing entered wastewater systems, contaminated sludge and reached land or water. The legal claims and responsibility for particular contamination remain disputed.

A long-running water concern

Pierrotti has spent years documenting PFAS contamination concerns in northwest Georgia, reporting on residents’ exposure, drinking water, lawsuits and efforts to understand the chemicals’ potential health effects. His reporting helped bring attention to the questions facing communities across the region and the challenge of determining who should pay for cleanup.

In Rome, state regulators found elevated PFAS in the Oostanaula River in 2016. The city changed its water source in the 2016–17 period and later reached settlements with chemical companies, carpet manufacturers and Dalton over contamination claims.

Rome has pursued upgrades to remove PFAS from drinking water. The city’s water director said in August that pilot testing of reverse-osmosis equipment reduced PFAS to nondetectable levels, with the larger project expected to be completed in 2029.

In neighboring Gordon County, residents near Calhoun have alleged that sludge from the city’s wastewater treatment system contaminated land and wells. In a 2024 lawsuit, residents said industrial wastewater containing PFAS entered the treatment system and that sludge was spread on nearby fields.

Pierrotti’s report on this lawsuit won the Environment/Science-News (No Production Time Limit) award at the 2025 Southeast Emmys.

A separate lawsuit brought by the Coosa River Basin Initiative resulted in a proposed 2024 settlement requiring Calhoun, if approved by a federal court, to investigate residential well water, overhaul its industrial pretreatment program and upgrade drinking-water treatment. That case is separate from the residents’ lawsuit.

Testing raises questions about exposure

In 2023, Atlanta News First arranged blood testing for 11 longtime Rome-area residents after the Georgia Department of Public Health said it had no plans to conduct its own testing.

Nine of the 11 had a combined level of seven measured PFAS at or above the national median used in the report. The small group was not a representative sample of Rome residents, and the tests could not establish where each person was exposed or whether PFAS caused a particular illness.

Emory University researchers later began studying exposure in the region. In 2025, researchers shared preliminary results from 177 Rome and Calhoun residents: Nearly a quarter had PFAS levels high enough to warrant additional medical evaluations under National Academies guidance.

The pilot study was not designed to determine whether PFAS caused cancer or other illnesses, or to identify the source of each participant’s exposure.

Emory trial will study possible treatment

In September, Emory announced a $6.57 million National Institutes of Health grant for a five-year clinical trial in Rome and Calhoun. Researchers plan to test whether a commonly used medication can safely reduce PFAS levels in the body and how long treatment might be needed.

The study is investigating a possible approach; it has not established the medication works for this purpose. Federal health officials say there are currently no approved medical treatments to remove PFAS from the body.

Communities and businesses have also turned to the courts as they seek to determine who should bear the cost of contamination.

Dalton sued Shaw Industries in federal court in December 2024, alleging that the carpet manufacturer contaminated the city’s sewage system with PFAS. In another case, Dalton-area property owners sued carpet and chemical companies in 2025, alleging contamination of their land, water and indoor dust.

The companies have disputed responsibility in litigation. Mohawk has alleged that chemical suppliers concealed the risks of PFAS, while chemical-company defendants in a separate case have argued that carpet makers’ wastewater disposal practices were responsible. Those arguments are legal positions, not final court findings.

Federal drinking-water rules adopted in 2024 set limits of 4 parts per trillion each for two specific chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, in regulated public water systems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has since proposed allowing qualifying systems more time to comply with those two limits and separately proposed rescinding limits for several other PFAS; those changes were proposals, not final rules, in the EPA materials reviewed.

Download our Atlanta News First app for your latest news and information.

If there’s something you would like Atlanta News First Investigates to dig into, fill out this submission form.