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It took more than five years for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to understand the enormity of the state-of-the-art chemical contamination crisis that a DEQ researcher had set in motion. guard in 2012.
Robert Delaney said at a hearing held Tuesday in Grand Rapids with Senator Gary Peters that he was "scared and angry" in 2010 about the class of hazardous chemicals called PFAS. Aware of the threat Michiganers faced, Delaney said he felt "like I was at the edge of an abyss looking into hell".
However, his 2012 report to DEQ's former director, Dan Wyant, recommending ways to combat the dangerous effects of the PFAS had been ignored for five years, a fact that disrupted the scientist.
"Director Wyant has always said that he did not know much about the environmental sector," Delaney said. "He knew how to work in government."
In his 2012 report, the state scientist and researcher wrote that more and more evidence was pointing to the role of contaminants in issues such as autism, schizophrenia, and autoimmune diseases. But he acknowledged that since little was known about the thousands of chemicals used commercially, it was difficult to verify a cause and effect.
At the time of Delaney's report, the former Wurtsmith Air Base was the only identified point source of the chemical. But Delaney wrote that he expected there to be "a lot of other sites in Michigan that contain high levels," especially those with firefighting training facilities, corridors transport and industrialized areas.
A state intervention team said in a statement released Tuesday that chemicals had been detected at high concentrations in 34 Michigan sites.
"We are essentially conducting a large toxicity study and using the human population as guinea pigs," Delaney said in his report.
As part of a reflection effort in 2012, the Delaney report was considered an early warning of the emerging PFAS crisis, an alert that would have allowed Michigan to move forward on the issue.
Peters, from D-Bloomfield Township, led the federal-provincial-local health and environment summit in Grand Rapids, but noted the absence of the US Environmental Protection Agency , who instead submitted a written comment.
Peters was disappointed by the absence of the EPA, but will continue to "push" the Trump administration to develop a federal standard for the chemical.
The class of toxic chemicals is linked to certain health effects, including cancer and immune system problems. The chemical was widely used in teflon, Scotchgard, military bases and fire-fighting foams.
Officials pointed out that Michigan was ahead of the national curve in its response to the PFAS.
Michigan's answer debated
For about a year now, the PFAS Action Response Team has been trying to test the water supply of municipalities and schools, identify sources of contamination, launch legal action against polluters and to involve the federal government in the development of federal guidelines on PFAS.
The team tested 1,218 water supply systems and public schools on private wells and interviewed more than 100 wastewater treatment plants and nearly 700 fire departments, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
The state will start testing the daycares afterwards.
"What you see is a very quick answer," said Carol Isaacs, director of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team.
But for some Michiganers, like Sandy Wynn-Stelt, the answer was not fast enough. A resident of Belmont who lives near Wolverine Worldwide, the Wynn-Stelt water has been tested between 27,000 parts per billion and 78,000 ppt. Its blood serum level in November 2017 was 5 million parts per billion, 750 times the national average.
"Once you add all zeros, it loses all meaning," said Wynn-Stelt. "He is extraordinarily high, I know it."
The state filed a complaint against the US Air Force for its inaction on the former Wurtsmith base and asked the EPA to set a federal standard for PFAS health counseling. Except for such a standard by the EPA, Isaacs said the state's scientific group had studied the possibility of lowering the state's standard below the federal advisory level of health by 70 parts per trillion. .
"I think we will have some information before the end of the year," she said.
Report a missing comment
As part of a working group in 2011, Delaney had written a previous white paper on the toxicity of chemicals. As a result, PFAS was added to the list of chemicals for which fish should be tested each year. But he said he had not received any information on his 2012 report until this year.
"Another employee of the state, I later learned that the director had distributed to some of the other leaders of the DEQ, but that's all I know," said Delaney.
From 2012 to 2018, the state scientist said he had hard times wondering if he was crazy or not. But the high PFAS results in the Parchment and Cooper Township drinking water this summer have confirmed his findings, he said.
Delaney pointed out that he was speaking alone and not on behalf of the state or the DEQ.
In his statement at the hearing, Mr. Delaney emphasized that it was important to understand the health effects of the PFAS, to give companies the means to propose solutions, to find resources to deal with the health problem. problem of cleaning and reconditioning, and avoid the game of blame.
"Finding someone to blame will become a distraction," he said.
The 93-page report of 2012 includes an analysis of chemicals, the extent of contamination in Michigan, the health effects of the human population, and finally, "brainstorming" about recommendations for measures to be taken by the state to deal with this problem.
Delaney recommended that senior management from various government agencies be made aware of the "state of the art human health crisis" related to autoimmune and neurological disorders and the likely causes of these chemical problems in Canada. 39; environment.
Delaney recommended that the governor and the lieutenant governor be warned once the "upper management" of the agencies is convinced of the problem. He advised state partners with health advocacy groups to create a "public consensus on the fact that the problem is real," and to collaborate with the Air Force, the government. EPA and state universities.
"If the Air Force acted as if the state and everyone were looking to get them, and was striving to protect themselves rather than letting science go where it pleased, it would be a huge opportunity lost, "wrote Delaney.
Delaney recommended that a focus group study the risks of perfluoroalkyl chemicals, identify missing data, propose regulatory actions, and determine if existing legislation is adequate to address the situation. The state should test municipal and private wells, water courses and sediments, he wrote.
The state should also begin testing blood serum, hair and umbilical cord blood to measure levels of contaminants, Delay recommended, as well as monitoring food supplies from countries like China and Brazil, where chemicals were still used.
The presence of contaminants in the Great Lakes and in animal and plant life "indicates a significant exposure," he warned.
"Their ubiquitous nature in the environment, in our homes, in our food, our water and our human blood, as well as their almost indestructible nature in the environment, make it a top priority in the world of research and for governments around the world, "said Delaney. wrote.
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