ANN ARBOR, MI – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell says she's been focused on the Gelman dioxane plume issue in Ann Arbor ever since the Flint water crisis, and she believes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency needs to play a role in working with the state to "ensure that this water is permanently cleaned up."
"My No. 1 goal is to ensure that the drinking water in this area is safe at all times and that the government at all levels needs to work with the community to ensure that it is safe," the Dearborn Democrat said at a forum this week.
"I've been part of many community meetings, digging in and trying to understand what the issue is," Dingell said of Ann Arbor's groundwater pollution, which stems from discharges of the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane many years ago by Gelman Sciences, a company that operated on Wagner Road.
Gelman Sciences was acquired by Pall Corp. in 1997, and Pall was acquired by Danaher Corp. last year.
The company is putting millions into ongoing pump-and-treat remediation efforts, but many local officials and residents want to see more done to address the plume, which poses a long-term threat to Ann Arbor's water supply and a more immediate threat to private wells in township areas surrounding the city.
"The state has got the lead on it, but we have included EPA," Dingell said of discussions that have happened this year.
"We are asking questions. We believe that the employer needs to be held accountable for what has happened there."
Dingell said there are some people who don't believe it's in the community's best interest for the Gelman plume to be designated as a federal Superfund site, but she still believes the EPA has a role to play in ensuring a proper cleanup.
Should voters be asked to fund $30M cleanup of Gelman dioxane plume?
Her remarks came during a 12th Congressional District candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters in Ann Arbor on Thursday night, Oct. 13.
The five candidates talked about the importance of clean water in the context of the Flint water crisis. Dingell was the only one who discussed the Gelman plume.
Republican candidate Jeff Jones said what happened in Flint could happen just about anywhere.
"Almost every city here in Michigan has lead pipes, and we're all subject to that potential danger," he said.
"The residents of Flint were innocent, and so someone should have jumped in to make sure that those pipes were fixed, they got clean water, they were supplied with what was necessary, and that didn't happen."
Dingell said what happened in Flint never should have happened, and the government at all levels failed the people of Flint.
Working Class Party candidate Gary Walkowicz expressed concerns about the challenges ahead for the next generation as a result of climate change and other environmental concerns. He said the problem is that decisions are being made by corporations such as oil companies and politicians who work for them.
Libertarian Tom Bagwell said as long as there is a government, it does have a responsibility to protect natural resources and the environment.
"That being said, there's a lot of bureaucracy that holds up action when we do have problems, when things like Flint happen," he said.
"I find it amazing that in the midst of that, the people who made sure in the very beginning that resources got deployed were not government officials," he added. "It wasn't state and local government or federal government.
"It was actually the private market. It was companies, it was charities, bringing clean drinking water and serving as that initial response while government tried to figure out what was going on."
Green Party candidate Dylan Calewarts criticized Dingell's record, suggesting she hasn't been effective in getting environmental legislation passed. He recalled she introduced the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2016.
"That went absolutely nowhere," he said.
The legislation was included in the Senate version of the Water Resources and Development Act, which is expected to be reconciled with the House version before the end of the year. Dingell is working to include the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act in the final version of the WRDA.
Meet the 5 candidates for Michigan's 12th Congressional District seat