Top political appointees are already at the E.P.A. preparing to erase the agency’s climate rules and pollution controls. Many of them have tried it before.

Mr. Zeldin, a Trump loyalist, would be charged with dismantling climate rules and perhaps the agency itself. He faced questions from the Senate Thursday.

Levels of PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer can pose risks that sometimes exceed safety thresholds “by several orders of magnitude,” the agency said.

Wastewater, even after treatment to make it drinkable, contains high levels of PFAS, according to researchers.

Human rights organizations and residents describe the situation in the enclave as getting more desperate. Here is a closer look.