By JANET STOICA

Webster residents came out to the Webster Senior Center on Saturday, July 16, to tell Congressman McGovern what was on their minds.  Rep. McGovern indicated he was resuming his district visits after having temporarily halted them due to the COVID pandemic.

Many attendees wore face masks. 

He began his introduction by stating that he was visiting to take questions from the audience. The gathering was scheduled for one hour but lasted more than two hours as many voters had many questions. Among those questions was one about the PFAs in everyone’s drinking water. PFAs are otherwise known as “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.”  According to the Earth Justice organization, PFAs are “chemicals in more than 5,000 substances that are found in products like nonstick pans (e.g., Teflon), food packaging, waterproof jackets, and carpets to repel water, grease, and stains. They’re also used in firefighting foam often used on military bases and at commercial airports.

Even personal care products like waterproof mascaras and eyeliners, sunscreen, shampoo, and shaving cream can contain PFAs.

These chemicals don’t easily break down, and they can persist in your body and in the environment for decades. As a result of their pervasiveness, more than 95 percent of the U.S. population has PFAs in their bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  These chemicals are currently in our water supplies and the Town of Webster is continuously testing and monitoring its well water supplies to ensure the PFA levels meet Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) guidelines.

Audience members further inquired about what the EPA’s plans were to help eliminate PFAs along with grant assistance to cities and towns like Webster. “We’ve had to shut one of our wells down because of high PFA levels and it’s hard enough for us to do without that well especially in the summer. We’re having a study done now and we don’t know what we’re going to do,” one attendee stated. “We want funded mandates. We have a plan to reach the current PFA levels but we need more advice.”

  Mr. McGovern responded by saying that “the House and Senate has put money into bills to assist with this situation and that our Commonwealth was overflowing with funds from the infrastructure bill and that some of these monies should help fund the PFA challenge.” Rep. McGovern also suggested that a teleconference call be held with Webster officials, the EPA, and the state Department of Environmental Protection. His staff was directed to follow-up.

  Another voter asked about the January 6th riots that occurred in Washington. Mr. McGovern said “I was in the House Chamber when the riots began with Speaker Nancy Pelosi chairing the session. She received a phone call and asked me to take over which I did. As there are no TVs in the chamber, members were unaware of the events occurring at that time. I adjourned the House briefly and then brought us back into session and we were told by the Capitol Police to close down because of the riots happening outside. We learned that there was no safe route to get the representatives out of the building. We walked down three flights of stairs to the basement and saw that suddenly one of the rioters had broken a window. We then walked out to the speaker’s lobby and awaited further instruction. We all saw the mob banging on and smashing windows with their fists. We couldn’t leave and saw that the woman who had been shot was brought in and then we were all brought to a safe location. We learned that one hundred forty Capitol Police had been injured, stabbed, and traumatized. We’re now learning that we came this close to a coup. 

  “You know Rep. Liz Cheney and I used to serve on the Rules Committee together. I admire her guts. She’s impeccably conservative but she took an oath for office to uphold the Constitution of the United States. This is not about whether you like President Biden or Donald Trump. This is about our country, our Constitution. We have to think about our future.  This is an uneasy time and we have to get through it. The Republican Party is good to have and it’s good to have differing opinions and insights but I’d like to see them move away from groups like QAnon.”

Contact Janet: [email protected]