"I know we all keep asking the same question, but I think what’s got everybody worried is we need to change the national standard for what is a safe level," U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, told an EPA official.
The agency is evaluating the need to set a maximum contaminant level for the well-known PFAS compounds PFOA and PFOS, said Peter Grevatt, director of the agency’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
The head of Michigan’s PFAS “response team,” Carol Isaacs, told lawmakers on the panel that more federal funding is needed for the Pentagon to fully remedy PFAS contamination at military sites.
"There are obviously concerns about setting an EPA drinking water standard.
Dingell asked Grevatt why the EPA didn’t schedule a stop in Michigan as part of its PFAS “community engagement” tour, which included visits to five states since June.
At the hearing, Republican Reps. Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Tim Walberg of Tipton backed Dingell’s invitation for EPA to hold a community forum in Michigan.
Isaacs later said, "Michigan has always wanted the EPA to come in, and we look forward to that."
"We’ve been disappointed in the pace of response" by the Department of Defense, Isaacs said.
The state intends to test all 461 schools on a private well system by year’s end, Isaacs said, and has already undertaken testing of all public water systems through a $1.7 million appropriation from the Legislature.
Isaacs was among those urging the federal government to move forward with additional research and setting an enforceable standard for PFAS in drinking water.