Michigan LCV: Senate Rejects Whitmer order to tackle Michigan's growing water crisis

LANSING – The Michigan League of Conservation Voters today issued the following statement after the state Senate voted to block Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order that would reorganize the Department of Environmental Quality to better protect Michigan’s air, land and Great Lakes and address threats to drinking water.

“Instead of joining Gov. Whitmer to protect public health, lawmakers are launching partisan attacks over unnecessary layers of bureaucracy that will only slow down, block and delay cleanup of polluted sites and protection of our water,” said Lisa Wozniak, executive director of Michigan LCV. “We need bold, swift action to protect our drinking water and the health of Michigan communities. Blocking Gov. Whitmer’s order is an affront to our air, land, Great Lakes and the health of Michiganders.”

As lawmakers in Michigan blocked Gov. Whitmer’s environmental order, the Environmental Protection Agency today announced its “Action Plan” to address PFAS contamination, but delayed setting a drinking water standard for PFAS. The agency will continue to use a federal advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, which has been criticized by scientists and experts as too high to be protective of human health.

“The federal government continues to kick the can down the road on setting a standard for PFAS while communities in Michigan and across the country grapple with unsafe drinking water,” said Wozniak. “We cannot wait for the EPA to act. Lawmakers must work with Gov. Whitmer, not against her, to tackle this growing water contamination crisis head-on. The health of people in impacted communities across Michigan is at risk.”

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