LANSING, MI — The Michigan Legislature will hold lame duck session hearings on a bill proposing drinking water standards for toxic PFAS chemicals, according to the House committee chair.
Rep. Gary Howell, R-Lapeer, said the House Natural Resources Committee will seek expert testimony in mid-November on House Bill 5375, which, as written, would establish a legally enforceable hard limit of 5 parts-per-trillion (ppt) on PFAS in public drinking water.
Brinks’ legislation "will be brought forward," said Howell, saying that consideration of the bill and PFAS contamination in Michigan will likely require "multiple hearings."
"Of course, I’m pleased if he’s intending to have a hearing on establishing a legally-allowable limit on PFAS in drinking water.
There are no federal regulations for any PFAS chemicals in drinking water, although some states have or are in the process of setting their own enforcable limits.
"We want to be sure that if we establish a level, that it’s the right level."
Howell said he wants to hear testimony from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as well as experts in academia and the wider scientific community.
He said he’s open to testimony from out-of-state experts and those put forward by Democrats.
"We’re going to draw on anybody that’s got relevant scientific information, whether that be experts from Michigan State or other universities," Howell said.
Howell said "we’re probably looking at several bills" to address drinking water standards for PFAS as well as issues related to site remediation and chemical storage.

Sens.
Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan brought concerns from Granite Staters on Wednesday in the first-ever U.S. Senate hearing on PFAS contamination.
Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense fielded questions from Shaheen, Hassan and other U.S. senators about what is being done to study the health effects of the chemicals.
“Are there technology improvements that are being worked on or lie ahead to improve the treatment of drinking water and reduce cost to private well owners?” Hassan asked.
“Absolutely, without question, and EPA has an active research program in collaboration with other federal partners to identify technologies for treating these compounds, not only in drinking water, but actually in other sources like contaminated sites,” replied Peter Grevatt, directors of the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
“While we have studies that indicate potential adverse health effects due to a few PFAS, our findings are limited, and we do not have data for thousands of PFAS that have not been well-studied,” said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health.
Hassan invited Portsmouth resident Andrea Amico, who started the push for group testing for Pease International Tradeport.
Amico testified before the committee about how contaminated water has affected her family.
“I live every day with worry that my children, who were exposed to high levels of PFAS in their early life and at critical stages of their development, will now suffer adverse health effects over their lifetime,” Amico said.
“However, I have channeled those feelings of anxiety and worry into my advocacy work by forming a community action group called Testing for Pease, with two other mothers, Alayna Davis and Michelle Dalton.” The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is holding a meeting in Merrimack on Oct. 10 to provide an update on the PFAS investigation.

Bart Johnsen-Harris, clean water advocate for Environment America, issued the following statement: “PFAS is contaminating drinking water from Michigan to North Carolina, affecting up to 110 million people across America.
While today’s hearing shines a welcome spotlight on this problem, Congress and the EPA need to start treating PFAS like the public health emergency that it is.
“PFAS present significant threats to our health.
Research has shown probable links between PFAS exposure and cancer, immune system deficiencies, high cholesterol, low fertility, and developmental issues in children and infants.
Moreover, the health impacts of PFAS are magnified because they bioaccumulate in the food chain and persist for a long time in the environment.
“To date, the federal government’s response has been insufficient.
Particularly shameful was the EPA and White House’s attempted coverup of the crisis, in which they put public relations over public health.
Ensure safe drinking water for affected communities: set health protective standards for PFAS to ensure adequate clean up of contaminated drinking water.
“In our rush to resist stains and fight fire with foam, the widespread use of PFAS has repeated the tragedy we have seen with other toxic chemicals allowed on the market without proof of safety.
“Protecting our drinking water and our health going forward will require a precautionary approach: chemicals should not be rushed into the marketplace until they are proven safe, and we need to devote more of America’s ingenuity to developing safer alternatives.

ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has fixed the case regarding the construction of Kalabagh Dam for hearing next week as the water crisis is becoming severe.
During the hearing of a case on Monday regarding the situation of the water resources in the country and construction of new dams, Chief Justice of Pakistan remarked that the apex court would prioritize the water crisis from now onwards.
‘Water crisis is our biggest issue at the moment and we are keeping an eye on the issue,’ asserted the top judge.
He warned that the concerned officials should get ready as the cases regarding water would be heard in respective registries of the apex court next week.
“If we can’t give water to our children, we can’t give them anything,” remarked the judge/ The apex court has also summoned former WAPDA chief Zafar Mehmood and Shamul Mulk to assist the bench in the cases.
According to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortages and if the situation is not dealt professionally, the country may have no water by 2025 – just seven years down the lane.
In another report by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), released in September, the country touched the “water stress line” in 1990 before crossing the “water scarcity line” in 2005 and it would approach “absolute scarcity” levels of water by 2025.

The head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, is paranoid.
Actually, he’s not paranoid at all.
He knows people are out to get him and he’s right—we are out to get him.
The reason he knows people are out to get him is because he’s a corrupt and narcissistic zealot who is turning the agency he leads away from its original mission statement of protecting the environment and the public in order to gain power and glory from fossil fuel interests.
The Associated Press reports that members of the public and the press have been barred from the EPA’s hearing on widespread water contamination.
Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building.
When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.
While the press is reporting that Pruitt has said that water contamination is a “national priority,” he has been working to dismantle the existing, albeit meager, water pollution safeguards.
And because of our country’s neglected infrastructure, pollutants like plastics and lead are clear public health emergencies.
Pruitt and the EPA’s lack of transparency is not a symptom of his corruption: it’s an essential part of maintaining the power he needs to continue poisoning the regulatory system he has been charged with running.

GREENWICH, CT — An information session has been scheduled for May 14 concerning well water contamination in Greenwich, organizers announced.
The public meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Harvest Time Assembly of God, located at 1338 King St. in Greenwich.
Representatives from the state Department of Public Health, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Greenwich Department of Health will be on hand to discuss the results of recent tests conducted in Northwest Greenwich.
The tests were conducted to determine if Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) migrated into the groundwater supply servicing public and private wells in that area of town.
PFAS concentrations have been discovered in New York and in groundwater monitoring wells at Westchester County Airport, according to officials, which led to the precautionary tests in Greenwich.
"Perfluoroalkyl substances are not found naturally in the environment but can be released when used or disposed of at factories, airports, fire training areas, landfills and other industrial facilities," wrote Greenwich officials in a statement.
"These chemicals do not break down easily in the environment, even when they are introduced into the water.
Several PFAS, Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS), which are the most studied, are of special concern including Perfluorohexane Sulfonate (PFHxS), Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFNA) and Perfluoroheptanoic Acid (PFHpA) as they are persistent in the human body and exert a variety of toxic effects."
For more information on PFAS and the May 14 public hearing, click here.
An Information Session on Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Contamination found in Public/Private Well Water Supplies in Northwest #GreenwichCT is planned for Monday, May 14. https://t.co/rR11PIEc8D pic.twitter.com/zByKFGLX67— Town of Greenwich CT (@GreenwichFirst) May 9, 2018 Image via Shutterstock To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.

From the State Water Resources Control Board: The State Water Resources Control Board is accepting written public comments for Surface Water Augmentation regulations. A public hearing to receive oral and written public comments will be held on September 7, at 9:30 A.M. at the CalEPA Headquarters in Sacramento, CA. The public comment period ends on September 12, 2017, at 12:00 P.M. (noon). Water Code section 13562 requires the State Water Board to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation (SWA regulations) on or before December 31, 2016, if an Expert Panel has made a finding that the proposed criteria (regulations) would adequately protect public health. For more background information, please see the Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR) provided below. Water Code section 13562(b) requires adoption of Surface Water Augmentation regulations to be in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act…

From the State Water Resources Control Board: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will receive public comments on the Proposed Amendments to both the Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan), and the forthcoming Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (ISWEBE Plan) to include the Statewide Wetland Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Materials to Waters of the State (proposed Amendments), and the Draft Staff Report including the Draft Substitute Environmental Documentation (Draft Staff…

Residents, farmers and environmental activists from Kallakudi, Kovandakurichi and neighbouring areas registered their strong opposition to the proposed expansion of limestone mines of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) during a public hearing at Venkatachalapuram near Pullampadi on Tuesday.
The public hearing was presided over by Collector K. Rajamani and was attended by over 500 people.
Soon after the meeting began, a group of about 100 persons, mostly from Kallakudi and Kovandakurichi, attempted to stage a road roko on the Tiruchi-Dalmiapuram road by claiming that they were denied entry into the public hearing venue.
However, the police and officials acted swiftly, pacified the protesters and took them to the venue.
They then expressed their views one after another.
“I am unable to sleep properly at night due to non-stop mining operations and transportation of limestone.
The borewell dug up at a cost of ₹75,000 in my house has failed due to deep excavation of limestone.
The expansion plan will further deplete the groundwater table and also cripple farming activities,” said Dennis Marry of Kallakudi.
A representative of Dalmia Cement said top priority was being given to ensure various parameters of pollution control norms were being followed.
The expansion plan would not affect the environment, groundwater and livelihood, he said and added that over 4,600 persons would get direct and indirect employment under the expansion plan.

From the State Water Board’s CA Water Fix Hearing Team: Today we concluded Part 1 rebuttal and are cancelling hearing days until sur-rebuttal starts. Sur-rebuttal testimony and exhibits are due 12 noon, June 9, 2017 and the hearing will resume at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2017. Click here for the latest schedule. For more on the California Water Fix proceedings at the State Water Board, visit: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/california_waterfix/water_right_petition.shtml Delta Cross Channel Gates Remain Closed through Memorial Day From the Bureau of Reclamation: The Bureau of Reclamation will keep its Delta Cross Channel Gates closed this Memorial Day weekend, which runs Friday, May 26 through Monday, May 29. The closure is due to persistent high flows in the Sacramento River system. Please be advised that the decision to open or close the gates can be made on short notice based on requirements. The Delta Cross Channel Gates control the diversion channel near Walnut Grove, about 30 miles south of Sacramento. When the gates are open, fresh water is drawn from the Sacramento River into…