September, 18 2019, 12:00am EDT
Clean Water Act Hearing Showcases Nationwide Community Devastation
Community members urge Congress to hold polluters and the military accountable
WASHINGTON
Today, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on the Trump Administration's priorities related to PFAS and other clean water matters in the subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. The hearing featured testimony from Michael Hickey, an impacted community member who exposed toxic chemicals polluting the water in the New York village of Hoosick Falls.
In response, Food & Water Action Public Water For All Campaign Director Mary Grant said:
"Years later, people like Michael Hickey should not still have to trek to Washington D.C. to share their personal stories about losing loved ones to PFAS contamination in order to convince Congress and EPA to protect our water.
"Countless scientific studies exist now that all clearly prove: forever chemicals like PFAS are making us sick. The EPA has no excuses left - it's time to do better.
"Congress must stop further PFAS pollution, clean up sources of contamination, and make polluters like the military pay. Hoosick Falls is just one of many communities spanning across our country facing a serious public health crisis due to preventable PFAS contamination. Isn't it time to put an end to this?"
Michael Hickey said:
"The EPA is failing to do its job to protect us. We need a real action plan that treats PFAS contamination with the urgency and importance it needs. I didn't lose my father to smoking, or drinking, or genetics. I lost my father because he simply was exposed to these chemicals.
"We can prevent more untimely deaths due to PFAS contamination if the EPA takes real action. There are no 'safe' levels of PFAS in our drinking water. The EPA needs to immediately protect people and the environment from these dangerous chemicals with more than half-baked regulation proposals.
"We need federal funding, enforceable and immediate usage limits, widespread testing and clean up, transparency, and to hold the polluters accountable. Our country deserves it."
See Hickey's full testimony here: https://www.foodandwateraction.org/water/michael-hickey-testimony-on-forever-chemicals/
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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