US Congressman Dan Kildee responded Thursday to reports that the EPA will not bring a PFAs forum to Michigan.
The EPA has held community forums in four states and announced its final stop will be in Kansas on September 5th.
The forums are geared towards hearing from communities impacted by PFAs - a chemical contaminant found in communities across the state and linked to cancer, among other diseases.
US Congressman Dan Kildee said it's frustrating that the EPA wouldn’t come to Michigan, too.
“To me, it just sends a message that they’re not serious about trying to solve the problem, they just want to look like they’re doing something by holding a bunch of hearings but not really going to the places where the problem is the most severe.”
An EPA spokesperson said in a written statement that the organization quote “worked to balance the need to take action with the agency’s desire to hear from as many communities as possible.”
The Michigan Department Environmental Quality, which according to an MLive report disagreed with the EPA on the format for a possible forum, did not respond to our request for comment.