Fred Upton: “Most folks have never heard of PFAS. In Michigan we found out the hard way. Again. Sadly, we know a little bit about…”

“Most folks have never heard of PFAS. In Michigan we found out the hard way. Again. Sadly, we know a little bit about water contamination. Think Flint, think lead. PFAS is bad, too. Really bad. The EPA has been slow at the switch. Three years ago, I stepped off the plane coming back from D.C. for the August break, and I got a call. It was bad. It was from one of my State senators. One of my towns had been identified just a few hours earlier with having alarming PFAS parts per trillion numbers. We had to act right away. I drove straight to the sheriff command center, prompted the immediate notification of thousands of residents. It was nearly midnight. Before they could make infant formula or coffee in the morning or even water their vegetable garden, they had to stop. They had to unplug their icemakers in their refrigerators. For months they had to line up at churches and schools to get cases of water for human consumption. We had a bipartisan bill to require the EPA to set a minimum standard for PFOA and PFAS, which House Republicans agreed to, but we were later denied. It would have started the EPA's clock, which is why we need to act now. We know this stuff is bad. We know this causes cancer. This bill is not perfect. It needs to see a number of constructive changes before it reaches the President's desk, but I want to thank Dan Kildee and Brian Fitzpatrick, the two co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force. I want to thank Chairman Pallone.…”