U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin introduced a bill that aims to monitor PFAS in drinking water.
The Democratic congresswoman’s bill seeks to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act. If passed it would require public water systems to test for at least 30 types of PFAS. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently isn’t required to test drinking water for PFAS.
Representative Slotkin says it’s important to test for these chemicals.
“Because a lot of communities, I mean most communities, don’t naturally test for this," Slotkin said. "And we know, particularly in a place like Michigan … that we need to start doing it."
Slotkin says other PFAS monitoring bills have asked smaller municipalities to test their water, but testing can be expensive.
“So this one has an authorization for funds for communities of 10,000 persons or less to make sure they have the money to cover the additional testing,” she said.
The bill would also require the EPA to post the results of drinking water tests on its website.
Michigan is one of the few states actively looking for PFAS contaminated sites, and thus, has one of the highest number of known sites in the country.
Slotkin says it is great to work with people on both sides of the political aisle on an issue that is important.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent -- if you’re going to hand your child a glass of water, you should be confident it won’t cause cancer or other lifelong health issues -- that’s your family and that’s about safety,” she said.
