opinion

Rep. Kildee: Time for Pruitt, EPA to get serious, transparent about PFAS risk

My constituents know all too well what happens when elected leaders ignore science and put profits ahead of the well-being of people.

In Flint, residents continue to recover from a man-made crisis that leeched lead into the city’s water supply. And now in Oscoda, veterans and families are finding out they were exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), harmful chemicals previously used around a shuttered local military base. It’s a sad reality that in America — the richest country in the world — tens of thousands of my constituents cannot get clean and safe drinking water out of the tap.

My constituents deserve immediate action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect public health. But under Scott Pruitt’s EPA, there’s lots of talk, but little action.

Administrator Pruitt claims that the safety of our nation’s drinking water is one of his “top priorities.” But a year and a half into the Trump administration, Administrator Pruitt is failing to properly address lead or PFAS contamination in drinking water in Michigan and other states.

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PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals used in waterproofing materials and firefighting foam. Increasingly, PFAS chemicals have been found in the environment and there is growing concern about the serious health risks associated with exposure, including cancer, as well as thyroid, kidney, liver, heart and reproductive problems.

To their credit, the state of Michigan has stepped up, creating a PFAS Action Response Team and appropriating state funds to support clean up and remediation of PFAS. I am also glad that Congress stepped up and passed legislation that I co-authored to conduct a new health study on the impacts of PFAS. But so far under the Trump Administration and Pruitt, the federal government’s response has been wholly inadequate.



Last December, I wrote to Pruitt — along with Republicans and Democrats in Michigan’s congressional delegation — urging the EPA to work with the state and more urgently address PFAS.

This month, it was reported that in January the EPA and the White House blocked the release of a Health and Human Services study showing that PFAS chemical contamination is more harmful to humans than previously acknowledged — specifically that PFAS exposure is dangerous at lower exposure levels than the EPA’s guidance — because it would have been a “public relations nightmare” for the EPA and the Department of Defense.

The top priority of the EPA should be to protect public health, and Pruitt’s lack of transparency is deeply concerning. The Trump administration should immediately release this PFAS study. In the last week, Republican and Democratic members of Congress have joined me in calling for this PFAS study to be released to the public. This week, Pruitt refused to release the study, saying he does not have the authority to do so. Pruitt leads the EPA; he certainly has the authority to tell his staff to stand down and stop contesting the report.

Also this week, during the EPA’s PFAS Summit in Washington, D.C., the agency barred members of my congressional staff and the media from attending parts of the conference. According to media reports, one journalist was even “forcibly removed” out of the EPA building. Simply put, these actions by Pruitt’s EPA are deeply troubling. The public has a right to know what is happening inside their government.

It is long past time for the Trump administration to get serious about updating outdated drinking water and clean-up standards that protect public health. The EPA can start by working with states like Michigan to enact better drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals.

The EPA should also update the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), which has not been updated in over two decades. In Congress, I have introduced the NO LEAD Act, which would require the EPA to update the LCR within nine months. This federal LCR rule hasn’t been updated since 1991, yet Pruitt has delayed action on updating the LCR three times during his tenure, including this month. As Pruitt drags his feet, millions of Americans are at risk of lead exposure in their drinking water.

It is one thing to hold a summit and pontificate about protecting public health. But just talking will not provide clean drinking water for the people of Flint or Oscoda. My constituents need Pruitt to step up and take real action to address PFAS, lead and other toxic substances in our nation’s drinking water supply.

Dan Kildee, a Democrat from Flint Township, represents Michigan's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.