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For Immediate Release
June, 27 2019, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Jackie Filson, jfilson@fwwatch.org, 202-683-2538
Senate Takes First Step on PFAS Health Crisis But Fails to Hold Polluters Accountable
Today, the full Senate passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that includes bipartisan provisions to tackle per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) contamination.
PFAS are a group of synthetic compounds used in manufacturing and by the military that are known to cause widespread water and food contamination and are often referred to as "forever chemicals" due to virtually nonexistent natural breakdown over time.
WASHINGTON
Today, the full Senate passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that includes bipartisan provisions to tackle per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) contamination.
PFAS are a group of synthetic compounds used in manufacturing and by the military that are known to cause widespread water and food contamination and are often referred to as "forever chemicals" due to virtually nonexistent natural breakdown over time.
Among other provisions, it finally requires the EPA to set an enforceable drinking water limit within two years for two of the most studied forms: PFOA and PFOS.
In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter released the following statement:
"We applaud the Senate for taking this first step to address the daunting PFAS crisis that is devastating communities across the country, but it falls short of what is needed to repair our affected drinking water sources. We urge the House to go further and to hold industrial and military polluters accountable for PFAS contamination.
"Congress must require EPA to set enforceable standards for all forms of PFAS in drinking water, and stop production of new sources of these toxic substances. We do not have time to regulate each of these chemicals individually because we have been exposed to them with no safeguards for decades. As we set up these necessary new protections, Congress must provide federal funding to help our communities comply with these regulations and address PFAS contamination in drinking water by passing the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act (HR 1417, S611).
"Effective action is a long time coming. An urgent and comprehensive response to this crisis is what America deserves."
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
With Straight Face, Trump Says Platner 'Worse Than Any Human Being That's Ever Run for Office, Probably'
The president has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying documents as well as being found guilty of fraud, sexual abuse, and defamation. While in office he's given massive tax giveaways to billionaires, opened the gates for corporate polluters, and made enriching himself and his family a top priority.
Jun 10, 2026
Four months after President Donald Trump's name reportedly appeared over a million times in long-hidden files related to his former friend, convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, and weeks after one analysis warned that his foreign aid cuts will likely kill 9 million people by the end of the decade, the president announced Wednesday that he'd identified the politician who is "probably" the worst person to ever run for public office.
In the Oval Office, Trump declared Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner, whom Maine primary voters chose to run in the general election by more than a 52% margin, a "thug" and a "cheap, no-good person," adding that he is "worse than any human being that's ever run for office, probably."
"Nobody's ever had a record like that... This guy's got a rap sheet, I've never seen anything like it," said the president as he lied about Platner, who has no criminal record.
Trump, meanwhile, was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in 2024. A New York judge also ordered Trump to pay a $450 million civil penalty over financial fraud that year, and in 2023, a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll. More than two dozen women have accused the president of sexual misconduct.
Trump on Platner: "I watched that thug that's up in Maine. He's a thug. And they're trying to make excuses for him. I mean, he's worse than any human being that's ever run for office probably…And you'll have Schumer, he'll go crazy over this or that or Epstein…He's a thug." pic.twitter.com/I9k1MXZOUD
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) June 10, 2026
Trump, who has openly bragged about sexually assaulting women and reportedly committed adultery numerous times during his three marriages, was likely referring to controversies that made headlines after Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, launched his campaign last year with a focus on taxing billionaires, expanding Medicare to the entire population, and ending US wars.
During his two terms in office, Trump has been rebuked for his allegiance to corporate interests, giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and powerful industries, undermining labor protections, launching wars of choice overseas, attacking public education, and gutting public health and environmental protection efforts.
Recently, a former campaign staffer told news outlets that Platner's wife had confided in her about messages Platner sent to other women early in their marriage. The candidate's former girlfriend, a right-wing operative, also accused him of being physically aggressive during their relationship. Earlier controversies centered on a tattoo that critics said resembled a Nazi symbol and posts he wrote on Reddit in the years after his military service.
Despite the months of criticism and news stories regarding Platner's past, with 91% of votes reported as of Wednesday afternoon, he won the support of more than 71% of Democratic primary voters, with many saying they connected with his strong focus on issues affecting working people and that he had taken accountability for his previous actions.
While attacking Platner on Wednesday, Trump brought up the Epstein scandal, saying Democratic lawmakers "go crazy" over his association with the financier, who died in prison while awaiting a trial on sex-trafficking minors and who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution with a minor.
As Trump hurled insults at Platner, also calling him "an outright pig," the Democratic candidate released an ad taking aim at "the Epstein class," saying that "the only thing the DC establishment can agree on is a love of Jeffrey Epstein—and a hatred of me."
Earlier, the Democratic candidate and so-called "thug" posted a video on social media of a volunteer activity he was taking part in on the morning after the election in Bar Harbor.
"This morning, I'm doing very important things, which is riding on the bike bus," said Platner, evidently taking time off from being what Trump has also referred to as a "major sleaze bag."
"The community gets together and helps ride with all of the kids who want to ride their bikes to school, and so it's safe and fun," he explained.
Good morning, Maine!
Hitting the trail. pic.twitter.com/y2xcbe1Hxi
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) June 10, 2026
"Honestly, it's exactly the thing that we need a lot more of in this country," said Platner, "which is people coming together and realizing that their neighbors are good people, and everybody just wants to help each other out. It's the message we need to take into our politics, which is why we won last night."
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Florida Man's Wrongful Arrest Suit Highlights Dangers of AI Facial Recognition in Policing
"Over a year later, I'm still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating," said Robert Dillon.
Jun 10, 2026
A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Middle District of Florida by a Fort Myers resident wrongfully arrested nearly two years ago highlights the risks of police agencies relying on facial recognition tools.
"This case is about what happens when police let an error-prone artificial intelligence (AI) system stand in for an investigation," explains the complaint, filed by attorneys with the state and national ACLU as well as the firm Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney. "A facial recognition algorithm flagged Robert Dillon as the man who tried to lure or entice a child under 12 years old at a Jacksonville Beach McDonald's. It was wrong."
The 52-year-old "lives more than 300 miles from" and "had never set foot in Jacksonville Beach," the complaint continues. "But rather than test the machine's answer against the evidence that would have cleared him, the officers built a case to confirm it. Mr. Dillon was arrested and prosecuted for one of the most stigmatizing crimes a person can face."
Dillon—one of at least 15 people wrongfully arrested in the United States due to police reliance on incorrect facial recognition results—is suing the city of Jacksonville Beach as well as law enforcement officers from the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO), and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Reporting on the case Wednesday, Wired noted that while the Pinellas agency did not respond to a request for comment, a JSO spokesperson simply said that "due to pending litigation, we would be unable to comment further on the incident."
The actual suspect allegedly approached a girl at the McDonald's shortly before midnight on November 2, 2023. The following month, Dillon was flagged as a possible match by the Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System (FACES)—which "has been operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office since 2001, making it one of the oldest police face-recognition systems in the country," according to Wired. "At its peak in 2021, its tens of millions of Florida mug shots and driver's license photos were accessible to more than 260 agencies."
After denying any involvement in the case in December, Dillon was arrested at his home in front of his wife the next August, "held overnight in jail, forced to borrow money and pledge the title to his truck to post bond, subjected to months of criminal prosecution, and publicly branded with a mugshot that remains accessible online, long after the charges were dropped," the complaint states. "Community members still approach him in public to ask about the case. He no longer feels comfortable being friendly to children."
"He had no connection to the McDonald's, to the child who was targeted, or to anyone involved in the crime. He became a suspect for one reason: a facial recognition algorithm included him in a list of possible matches to a suspect captured on grainy surveillance footage at the restaurant," the document emphasizes. "The investigating officer treated that algorithmic output as a near-certain identification, omitted critical exculpatory evidence from his arrest warrant application, and failed to pursue routine investigative steps that would have immediately excluded Mr. Dillon as a suspect."
"The arrest warrant that deprived Mr. Dillon of his liberty was the product of a cascade of investigative failures by the lead investigator, Jacksonville Beach Police Department officer (now corporal) Scott O'Connell," according to the filing. Among them was the officer's "complete failure to consider that the suspect was alleged to have been a 'regular' customer."
The complaint also notes that "O'Connell is an officer with a documented history of volatility and poor judgment, having previously been terminated from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office for threatening to 'blow up' the agency, later reinstated, then arrested for domestic battery before resigning under the weight of those charges. Jacksonville Beach PD hired him anyway, assigned him as lead investigator on a sensitive child-luring case, and later promoted him to corporal after his investigation resulted in the wrongful arrest and prosecution of an innocent man."
Dillon said in a Wednesday statement that "the night I spent in jail after they arrested me for a crime I did not commit still haunts me to this day. I will never get over how terrified and worried I was, wondering if I'd ever go home to my wife and daughter again."
"Over a year later, I'm still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating," Dillon added. "Florida police must implement safeguards and ensure this never happens to anyone else, because until they do, nobody is safe."
Nate Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, stressed that "no one should lose their freedom or be scared to leave their house because an algorithm got it wrong."
"These Florida police departments owe it to Mr. Dillon to make amends and to take serious steps to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else," he argued. "Police across the country are on notice: Unreliable face recognition technology is hurting people, and we will keep fighting to hold them accountable for these abuses."
The ACLU has previously sounded the alarm over other cases, including those of Robert Williams, a Black man wrongfully arrested in 2020 after software owned by Michigan State Police misidentified him as a shoplifting suspect, and Randal Reid, who spent nearly a week in jail in 2022 after he was falsely identified as a luxury purse thief by Louisiana authorities.
The legal group on Wednesday also pointed to the reported role of FACES in the 2025 wrongful arrest of New Smyrna Beach resident Beau Burgess, as well as another case involving the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office: Jalil Richardson told Action News Jax earlier this month that after being misidentified as a vehicle thief, he "sat in there for over 50 days, in the most worst jail ever."
"There was no proper investigation done... to even reach out to me or to see if I was even in Florida," said Richardson, whose charges were dropped after he provided time sheets showing that he was at work in North Carolina when the vehicle was stolen.
In his case, JSO provided a lengthy statement, saying in part that "facial recognition software is just one tool in a large toolbox for investigators," and "calling the arrest the result 'police AI misidentification' is a catchy headline but does not provide accurate context," including that "the victim chose Mr. Richardson out of a photographic lineup to include other potential suspects."
Nicholas Warren, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida, said Wednesday that "one wrongful arrest is one too many."
"Florida's growing reliance on facial recognition technology threatens us all," he warned. "We must stop this dangerous pattern before it traps more innocent people. No one should have their freedom taken away because the police rely on faulty technology."
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‘Virtual Elimination of Mail-In Voting’ Feared Under Trump Postal Service Order
"This is not in the president’s power. It's absolutely clear in the Constitution—states run elections," said Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read.
Jun 10, 2026
President Donald Trump's executive order restricting the distribution of ballots by the US Postal Service could effectively end the ability to vote by mail if it isn't struck down, experts told CNN on Wednesday.
The order, which was signed in March, instructs the USPS to not deliver ballots in any states that have not given the federal government access to its voter lists. It is being challenged by congressional Democrats and all 23 Democratic state attorneys general, who are urging courts to block the order before it potentially disenfranchises eligible voters.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told CNN that, unless courts intervene quickly, "you will see a virtual elimination of mail-in voting."
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read explained to CNN that he believes the Trump order is patently unlawful given that it usurps states' powers outlined in the US Constitution to run their own elections.
"This is not in the president’s power," Read said. "It's absolutely clear in the Constitution—states run elections."
Although Trump-appointed US District Court Judge Carl Nichols last month declined to block the president's executive order, congressional Democrats are appealing the case at the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals, where they are seeking an expedited process that will result in a ruling before the fall.
The legal challenge brought by Democratic attorneys general is currently before a federal judge in Boston.
Without fast action, congressional Democrats warned in a Monday court filing, "millions of American voters’ sensitive personal data will be amassed into inaccurate and unlawful databases and USPS will engage in unprecedented interference with state mail voting programs."
The executive order attacking mail-in voting is just one of many ways the Trump administration has been trying to meddle in the election process ahead of the 2026 midterms.
According to a report from Democracy Docket, a Tuesday court filing by the US Department of Justice argued that states have the power to purge voter rolls at any time ahead of an election and do not have to abide by the 90-day "quiet period" established in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
As the law has been traditionally interpreted, states cannot trim voter rolls less than 90 days before elections so that people affected by the changes have sufficient time to file challenges and potentially restore their eligibility.
However, the Trump DOJ argued that the provision establishing the 90-day period "would not prevent a state like Georgia from investigating and removing ineligible people in an individualized fashion" close to an election "if the United States alerted the state of the possibility that particular individuals on their rolls were ineligible to vote."
As explained by Democracy Docket, this interpretation of the law could let the federal government create lists of voters to be purged and then "pressure states to carry out the removals individually—potentially weakening one of the most important federal safeguards against last-minute disenfranchisement."
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