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Fifteen state governors urge federal action on PFAs

BaronBrian

Fifteen state governors, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, are calling on the federal government to take action on PFAs contamination.

PFAs, or perfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of chemicals that have been found in drinking water across the state and are linked to health problems including cancer.

In a bipartisanletteraddressed to the heads of both the house and senate armed services committee, Governors called for legislation requiring the EPA to set enforceable drinking water standards, among other things.

In a written statement Governor Whitmer said that while Michigan has been a leader on combatting PFAs “it’s clear that federal action is needed to further address PFAS, including contamination in and around military sites.”

Mike Schriberg is with the National Wildlife Federation. He said it was good to see that state’s are taking the PFAs issue seriously.

“What we want to be careful of is that leaders such as Governor Whitmer are not trying to divest themselves of the responsibility for action as well,” Schriberg said.

Schriberg said states should be leading the charge.

“Our state leaders have the ability to go above and beyond and actually force some federal clean up,” he said. “They haven’t exercised that ability to a significant extent yet we are encouraging them to do so and not just say ‘hey it’s the federal government’s problem.’”

According to Schriberg, that is because the EPA has been slow to react to this crisis and there is no guarantee that congress will be able to pass legislation combatting the PFAs problem.

“We would be remiss in Michigan if our strategy was to rely on the EPA to protect us from PFAs,” he said. “That’s not a strategy for success, that’s not a strategy for clean drinking water, that’s not a strategy for keeping our Great Lakes safe.”

In its report released last week, the National Wildlife Federation argued state’s could use the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act to force federal action.