Emily Marpe Testifies Before Congress on PFAS
Submitted by Representative Delgado’s Office
On Wednesday, May 15, Representative Antonio Delgado met with Petersburgh residents Emily Marpe and her daughter Gwen Young. The meeting was prior to Emily testifying before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee about per-and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS) water contamination in her community and ongoing health effects from exposure. The Energy and Commerce Committee also considered Rep. Delgado’s legislation to add PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) during the hearing.
“PFAS contamination impacts communities across the country, and hearing from folks affected by the contamination, allows Congress to understand the policies necessary to tackle this critical issue. I continue to be inspired by the residents of Petersburgh and Hoosick Falls raising their voices about the impact of PFAS contamination, and thank Emily and Gwen for sharing their story today.” Rep. Delgado continued, “I’m pleased the Energy and Commerce Committee is considering my bipartisan legislation to add PFAS to the TRI and require corporations to annually disclose use of PFAS chemicals to better understand the prevalence of these chemicals in the environment. I will continue to take action to address this issue and owe a debt of gratitude to brave folks like Emily for sharing her story.”
“Congressman Delgado’s legislation before the Committee is a necessary step to take to address PFAS contamination in Petersburgh,” said Ms. Marpe. “I appreciate the opportunity to share my story and bring this issue to light before Congress, and thank Congressman Delgado for continuing to visit and hear from residents, and for offering solutions to address this issue in our communities.”
During her testimony, Ms. Marpe said, “no mom should ever have to go through what I’ve been through. Congress needs to treat this contamination crisis like a crisis. It needs to end PFAS pollution and clean up PFAS contamination. At a minimum, Congress needs to force companies like Taconic Plastic to report their PFAS releases and force our water utilities to tell us if our drinking water is polluted with PFAS chemicals.” Ms. Marpe’s daughter Gwen’s blood tests showed one of the highest levels of PFOA contamination inn the area.
Representative Delgado recently held his second Rensselaer County Town Hall meeting in Hoosick Falls, where PFAS was one of the major subjects discussed.