Jeff Merkley Questions Lee Zeldin About Efforts To Address Threat Of Microplastics

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-17

[00:00:02]I thank you very much, Madam uh Chairman, and I'll just jump right into the WIFIA program that I that I mentioned. It's resulted in 7.5 billion in savings for borrowers and created 165,000 jobs working on water infrastructure projects across the nation.

[00:00:18]Uh thank you for recently closing the city of Medford's $147 million WIFIA application. I can tell you there was a quite a festive celebration up on up on that word.

[00:00:31]Uh I did want to highlight the Port of Morro's effort to undertake and address the nitrate contamination. Uh and that's the example of a very expensive undertaking.

[00:00:44]Uh the uh that can really use this help. And uh can you take a can I ask you to take a look at that particular application and see if we can get that one wrapped up?

[00:00:55]Uh yes, uh Senator, we are definitely tracking the the Port of Morro. It's uh in the process of negotiation and underwriting. I would also uh point out that another one, Sweet Home, has been invited uh to apply. They haven't yet submitted their loan application. Um definitely well aware of uh how hard you were advocating for the uh the WIFIA loans that were approved in 2025.

[00:01:20]Uh and yeah, as you pointed out, that you're you've been involved with the WIFIA program since uh its founding. Uh it's now been 15 total loans to communities in Oregon totaling over $2 billion in financing to support nearly $5 billion in water infrastructure investment. So, it's certainly been a a big success story in your state.

[00:01:39]And I think a success story in in many other states as well. And thank you for mentioning Sweet Home. There are nationwide 82 projects in the pipeline.

[00:01:48]And so, um anything that I or others can can do to encourage closing in many of those as possible because often it's the last piece of the puzzle that enables uh a project to get launched.

[00:02:01]I every time I meet with the community leaders and they say, "Well, we've been waiting for the last piece of the puzzle, the construction costs have gone up by X."

[00:02:10]It's always a very frustrated room. So, it really makes a big difference to be able to get to conclusion on these these key factors.

[00:02:19]Then I wanted to turn you mentioned in your testimony that plastics in the contaminant candidate list. And I do appreciate that you've included that the plastics on that on that list.

[00:02:32]We held a number of hearings in the environment committee where folks really highlighted the the recent studies. And it seems like each study tells us a little bit more. Now that we're able to to look at micro and nano plastics more carefully, we're finding them food and water, but also in our blood, in our brains, in our breast milk, in our skin tissue, in our and when it comes to brains, the last study I saw said that currently the cadavers they're examining have the equivalent of plastic in the brain equal to a plastic spoon.

[00:03:11]And that's kind of a scary thought when I think about this much of an endocrine disruptor inside of our of our brains.

[00:03:18]So, it's an important undertaking and you've taken a significant step by putting it on the contaminant candidate list. I did want to submit for the record a few of those recent studies.

[00:03:28]Microplastics in arteries linked to heart disease, levels of microplastics in human brains are rapidly rising, and microplastics a threat for male fertility.

[00:03:38]Not a little bit kind of scary reading.

[00:03:41]Can you give us a sense of how you might take forward other efforts beyond the candidate candidate list to address this challenge?

[00:03:49]For one that that research that you are citing the efforts to continue to learn more is very important. Uh this is something that is of great importance uh amongst our team at EPA.

[00:04:02]Uh it's a topic uh that has been of importance with Secretary Kennedy and his team at HHS.

[00:04:09]Uh and continuing to learn more would be key. Uh th- this was a first step a first ever step in adding it, but um we we need to build on what we learn now and and and learn more as rapidly as possible.

[00:04:23]Great. I I look forward to when uh research is essential here, and I think it sets the foundation for thinking about things like how we address it under Safe Drinking Water Act and and other key steps that I'll I'll be happy to follow up on.

[00:04:38]Uh the I'm glad you mentioned uh MAHA uh and uh the MAHA report was very explicit about uh the the heightened risk that comes from uh plastics. And so a lot a lot more people are paying attention to this issue as we're discovering more and more and and seeing those those those those studies. And one of the things that has been raised in the MAHA movement, if we really want to try to diminish the impact of plastics, we're also going to have to quit expanding the production of plastics. Are you willing to take a look at the question on whether we should keep permitting new plastics operations both in terms of their impact on the local community, but also their impact on the on the massive flow of plastics inundating our air, our water, our soil.

[00:05:28]Well, Senator, I I know that this is a a very important topic for you. Uh right now our economy and way and li- way of life uh is just so intertwined uh with the the use of plastics uh that that would be a pretty radical idea for me to sit here today and say that we're looking to you You get rid of plastics.

[00:05:46]The uh the research on the microplastics issue that you cited is something that we're aware of and we want to do more of.

[00:05:54]But as I sit here today, I'm I wouldn't say that I'd be proposing by any means to propose to to just separate plastic from our lives altogether. So much of our economy and way of life right now is intertwined with it. But we do need to learn more.

[00:06:08]>> I do acknowledge your point, but that's not the argument anyone's making.

[00:06:13]The argument is simply whether we should keep expanding additional production of plastics and whether we should be looking at individual products where we might have the possibility of reducing the exposure either what gets into our air, our soil, our water, or what gets into our bodies.

[00:06:33]Uh not a if you will an elimination of plastic. It serves many many functions, but maybe there are functions where it can be replaced with other possibilities or reduce the impact on our health. I understand, Senator. And and also the the effort to remove plastics, the disposal of plastics, everything from I mean I went to visit an advanced recycling operation which is ramped up and it's ramping up in Europe, it's ramping up in Asia. It's kind of it's been stalled for years here inside the United States where they they're able to reduce plastic to raw chemical compounds.

[00:07:10]Plastics that end up in landfill, that end up in trash that can be properly disposed of is important and plastics that are ending up in our water is another important topic and you know, the Sea Grant is something else that the Appropriations Committee has funded and Save Our Seas Act legislation has been passed by by Congress that we want to continue to work with with all of you on.

[00:07:34]You mentioned advanced recycling. I'll just say that's merits a longer conversation.

[00:07:39]I have visited advanced recycling. I've looked at quite carefully around the country. It's it's actually been used in pretty limited plastic flows and it also is producing vapors that affect the local community.

[00:07:51]So it's a longer discussion.

[00:07:53]I don't I'm not convinced it's the right answer.

[00:07:57]Senator Hoeven.