Sen. Sherrod Brown wants EPA to hold town hall over Dayton water concerns
The EPA announced it will hold meetings in communities impacted by pollution from toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but Dayton was not on the list of cities.
“I have heard from constituents from Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities who are concerned about PFAS contamination at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), and I urge you to include an event in the region this summer,” Senator Brown wrote in a letter to the EPA.
Results from May tests for “PFAS” in treated water were found at a level of 10.5 parts per trillion, similar to the 12.5 ppt detected in March and 7 ppt in April, according to the Dayton Water Department.
RELATED: Chemicals found in local water prompt new alerts to customers Here’s a copy of the letter Brown sent to the EPA: Acting Administrator Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460 In March, as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement that it would hold a National Leadership Summit to begin developing strategies for addressing pollution from Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), the agency shared its intention to hold meetings in communities that have been impacted by PFAS.
I have heard from constituents from Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities who are concerned about PFAS contamination at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), and I urge you to include an event in the region this summer.
Contamination at WPAFB is well-documented.
In 2016, the base shut down two of its drinking water wells when samples showed that they contained 200 and 700 parts per trillion of PFAS respectively.
The City of Dayton has shut down drinking water wells at Huffman Dam because of concerns about a contamination plume approaching from the base.
While testing of the city’s tap water has shown that it is safe to drink, the contamination plume continues to migrate away from WPAFB and toward the city.
Sincerely, Senator Sherrod Brown
Town hall held in Otsego to address water concerns
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Officials from the Department of Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, Allegan County Health Department and Michigan Department of Health were at the town hall-style meeting to field questions and address the concerns of its residents.
“My goal is to get the community together to wave our red flag to the health department,” said Mary Zack, Founder of Justice for Otsego.
“Please help us, please come in, please look at what’s going on, and if you agree there is something going on, which we all know there is, help us find the source.” Citizens blamed the health problems multiple residents are experiencing on years of pollution by paper mills in the Kalamazoo River.
The mills dumped waste in the river, causing contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls, also known as PCBs, which the EPA says can have “harmful health effects.” The initiative started when Zack found an article about the Kalamazoo River pollution and started connecting dots on her own.
She found people had rare diseases, cancers and reproductive issues when she posted a survey on the Justice for Otsego Facebook page.
Last October, the EPA signed off on a five-year, $46 million plan to clean up the contamination caused by the old Allied Paper Mill.
Officials at the meeting said they will take input from the community, develop a plan to determine what is causing health problems for Otsego residents and determine exactly what is in the water supply.
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