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Michigan legislators ask EPA to leave Chicago office open

April 23, 2017

Michigan legislators ask EPA to leave Chicago office open

Several Michigan members of the House of Representatives are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not to close a regional office in Chicago even though a spokeswoman for the agency said there are no such plans.

In a Thursday, April 27, letter signed by eight members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., the legislators ask EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to keep the office open.

An EPA spokeswoman said there are no plans to close the office and said the agency is "focused on getting results and improving conditions for communities affected by Superfund sites like in East Chicago."

Legislators said in the letter that they are concerned about reports the office could close in a cost-cutting move.

"Having a regional EPA office situated on the Great Lakes and dedicated to our region ensures a concerted effort to protect our environment and promote public health," the letter says.

"EPA's Region 5 office also helps to ensure that the residents of Flint ... and other communities have clean drinking water. Currently, the regional office is providing ongoing water testing and technical assistance to Flint as it continues to recover from the city's lead in water crisis."

In addition to Kildee, the letter is signed by Republican House members Fred Upton, Mike Bishop and Dave Trott, and by Democrats Sander Levin, John Conyers, Brenda Lawrence and Debbie Dingell.

Robert Kaplan, Region 5's acting regional administrator, said last week while in Flint that he's been assured by EPA headquarters that the agency's Chicago office would remain open.

Concern about the future of the office swelled after a report by the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month said the regional office could be merged into another EPA office in Kansas City.

The story attributed the information to a source "plugged in to federal-government happenings."