00:00My fellow classmate, I'm going to be short, but I have a lot of questions on brownfield sites.
00:07Southeast Michigan, like many places in the country, has communities that have been left behind for too long.
00:13They've burned the brunt of toxic waste, industrial pollution, and contaminated sites.
00:18We've got a lot of legacy issues, as you know, not just in mine, but other manufacturing states,
00:24from fighting to get PFAS and lead out of our water, to implementing funding and strengthening the brownfield programs,
00:30to working across all levels of government.
00:32So I'm going to hit three issues quickly, and thank you for being here.
00:36I have to say that the announcement by EPA to roll back the PFAS drinking water standard really worried me.
00:45Rescinding this standard means more Americans will be poisoned and have harmful PFAS contamination that's been spreading.
00:53So too many people have already suffered the adverse impacts of PFAS exposure.
00:58You know it's a forever chemical.
01:00It's in 98% of the people's blood, and we've got to do something.
01:05We've got to do everything possible to combat these dangerous things.
01:09This dangerous, for too long, Michigan, quite frankly, had a drinking water standard that was more stringent
01:14under Republican governor than the guideline.
01:17How do we make sure people have clean and safe drinking water?
01:21Congresswoman, as you noted, we had an announcement last week.
01:27The four parts per trillion MCL on PFOA and PFAS are staying.
01:33There's a procedural error in the way that the MCL was set on the other four.
01:39We're going to fix that.
01:41It's been inaccurately reported that this is a weakening of the MCL for those four.
01:48As I've noted, since that reporting started, as a result of this process, the MCL might be lower than four.
01:54We'll see.
01:55That's good.
01:56I mean, just so we can continue to work on safe drinking water.
01:59Let me – yesterday it was announced that you've taken Flint off the – lifted the emergency order,
02:08which is good news for the people of Flint, and they reacted positively to it.
02:14But we still have to make sure that people have access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water
02:18because it's not a luxury.
02:20Will you work with us to defend last year's rule requiring all water systems remove lead from pipes
02:27within the next decade so we don't poison any more children?
02:31Congressman, I would like to have a meeting with my staff, including the talented, dedicated career staff
02:40inside the Office of Water on that topic, and then huddle back up with you.
02:45As we've spoken on the phone since I was confirmed, happy to stay in touch and do it again with regards to this question.
02:52And I would just like to say, as far as Flint, Michigan goes, it's a cause for celebration.
02:57As they pointed out to me when I visited Flint after a confirmation, they've worked very hard for it.
03:03But it's important for them to know that the state and the federal government isn't abandoning Flint
03:08by lifting an emergency order.
03:10And I still need to talk to you about the plume, but I'll put it on record
03:13because we have too many pollution problems in Michigan.
03:16So thank you.
03:17Yield back.
03:18General Lee yields back.
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