U.S. House Subcommittee Discusses PFAS Contamination

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A U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee panel is diving into drinking water issues regarding the suspected carcinogen PFAS. Congressman Fred Upton joined the Subcommittee on Environment for the hearing Thursday and outlined the situation in the city of Parchment and Cooper Township in Kalamazoo County this summer when extremely high levels of PFAS were discovered in the drinking water.

“Mr. Chairman, I appreciate you taking this hearing up literally the first week we’re back so that we can better understand this and help other communities that yes, will be on the same path as Parchment and Cooper Township in the future,” Upton said.

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey called the PFAS hearings a “good start,” but says a lot more needs to be done to protect people.

“They need real solutions and real actions from the EPA and the Department of Defense,” said Pallone. “The impacted states need more than just summits and unenforceable advisories. We need a binding, enforceable, and strong drinking water standard.”

Upton and Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Dearborn are working now on legislation to create a national standard for drinking water regarding PFAS. She called it a man-made problem that will require a “man-and-woman-made solution,” adding “every federal agency, every state and local official and Congress needs to take this issue seriously.”

In Parchment, the contamination forced the closure of the city’s water system and prompted that city and Cooper Township to connect to the city of Kalamazoo’s water. There are still a number of people in Cooper Township getting their water from contaminated wells, and those homes are being given filters for the kitchen sink so the water is safe to use for drinking and cooking. In his remarks, Upton praised the response by local and state officials, noting Governor Snyder called it a textbook example of how such a crisis should be handled.