Read the full article by Katherine Hammer (The Cool Down)
“The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has been unable to set critical water quality regulations for almost two decades. But change — and a safer water supply — may soon be on the horizon after legislation to restore the agency’s capacities passed the state’s Senate this summer, reported Michigan Advance.
Titled Senate Bill 663, the updated legislation disposes of a 2004 statute that outlawed EGLE’s power to modernize standards for water protection. ‘By passing this bill, EGLE will regain authority to make rules that protect us from harmful chemicals released into our waterways,’ said Michigan Sen. Sue Shink, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, in Michigan Advance.
Water contamination is dangerous and shockingly commonplace. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), hazardous chemicals developed in the 1940s for use in non-stick cookware and other household standbys, take so long to break down they are known as ‘forever chemicals.'”…