Shane Pepe knows exactly how his town's drinking water came to be polluted with the "forever chemicals" it recently reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The borough manager in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, points to a firefighter training facility as the source of contamination that averaged 32 times the federal limit over the past year. For decades, fire-extinguishing foams containing PFAS seeped into the local aquifer during training exercises.

"While our firefighters are practicing to save your life, they had no idea that at the same time the water system was getting poisoned," he said.

Emmaus was among 839 water systems whose yearly average exceeded EPA limits for two types of forever chemicals, according to a USA TODAY analysis of new test results the EPA released last wee

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