KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — The Environmental Protection Agency was criticized by just about everyone invited to a panel representing PFAs contaminated communities across the State of Michigan Friday.
The Roundtable was held at Kalamazoo’s Expo Center. If they had permitted public comment, the federal agency probably would have been blasted by them too.
The fact that there was no comment period for the public just provided an additional reason to for Parchment Residents and State Senate Candidate Sean McCann to be critical. Senator Gary Peters issued a news release with similar criticisms.
State and local health officials say the EPA is dragging its feet on issuing standards for cleanups and have yet to definitively say that PFAS and the other related compounds are hazardous.
Until they have those standards, they are stuck holding the bag trying to answer questions from citizens that can’t be answered. Elected officials can’t assure constituents they are safe, or they are working to make things safe, if no one has defined what being safe means.
Peter Gravett, The EPA Director for Safe Water says that they are trying to do just that but need more time, because at this time they just don’t know either.
Congress says it’s the EPA’s job to find out, whether they are adequately staffed or not. Gravett says they currently plan is to issue a PFAS Management Protection Plan before the end of the year.
He says there were residents from several contaminated areas in Michigan included on the panel and they have received over 120-thousand letters, e-mail and other communications from the public on the issue.
Then there is the Department of Defense, believed to be the source of the contaminant in many communities, including Springfield near the Air National Guard Base. They failed to send anyone to yesterday’s gathering, but they too are blaming the EPA for failing to define the nature of the threat.
