Schedule of Events

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell represents Michigan’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

Growing up in beautiful Michigan, Dingell, who co-chairs the Great Lakes Task Force, has always been an advocate for the outdoors and commits her work in Congress to protecting the environment for generations. As Chair of the Heartland Caucus, Dingell leads a coalition of lawmakers to elevate and engage on issues facing Heartland communities. Dingell is focused on bringing people together – in Congress and in her communities – to support Michigan’s families and the economy.

Dingell has long led the fight against PFAS as the sponsor of the PFAS Action Act. The recent designation of PFOS and PFOA – two of the most widely used and notoriously harmful PFAS substances – as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and announcement of the first-ever national drinking water standard for PFAS by the EPA are key pillars of Dingell’s bipartisan PFAS Action Act. Additionally, Dingell has introduced the Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act, No PFAS in Cosmetics Act, and PFAS Alternatives Act. Dingell continues to work tirelessly in Congress and at home to address the growing urgent public health threat posed by PFAS.

Born and raised in Flint, Congressman Dan Kildee is a lifelong Michigander. In Congress, he has proven he will work with anyone to bring people together, focus on kitchen table issues and get results for mid-Michigan.

Congressman Kildee serves on the Ways and Means Committee, the oldest and most powerful committee, and the Budget Committee. As a member of these committees, Congressman Kildee works to protect the earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare, lower the costs of health care premiums and prescription drugs, negotiate fair trade deals to ensure Michigan farmers and manufactures have a seat at the table and make sure our tax system benefits working families, not just the wealthy and well-connected.

Congressman Kildee has led the fight to protect the Great Lakes by fully funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and working to stop Canadians from burying nuclear waste less than a mile from the Great Lakes. He also co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force to more urgently clean up toxic PFAS chemicals. Congressman Kildee has secured federal funding to help communities remove every lead pipe and service line.

Before being elected to Congress, Congressman Kildee co-founded and served as the president of the Center for Community Progress, a national non-profit organization focused on urban land reform and revitalization. He also founded Michigan's first land bank—the Genesee County Land Bank—which is responsible for tens of millions of dollars in redevelopment in Flint. The Genesee County Land Bank later served as a model for over 250 other land banks across the nation. Previously, Congressman Dan Kildee served as the Genesee County Treasurer, on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners and on the Flint Board of Education. Additionally, he worked for eight years at the Whaley Children's Center, a residential treatment facility in Flint for children who have experienced trauma and abuse.

Tony Spaniola is an attorney, impacted citizen and national PFAS advocate. His family's lake home in Oscoda, Michigan is located in the “zone of concern” for PFAS contamination from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, the first reported U.S. military PFAS site in the world.

Tony is a co-founder and co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network and a co-founder of the Need Our Water (NOW) community action group in Oscoda. He also serves on the Leadership Team of the National PFAS Contamination Coalition.

Tony has worked closely with officials in Michigan, in Congress and in the Biden Administration on PFAS policy matters. In 2017, he helped draft the first PFAS drinking water legislation in the Michigan Legislature, and he is among those credited by Congressman Dan Kildee in suggesting the creation of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, which currently numbers nearly 60 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2018, Tony served as a PFAS campaign policy advisor to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and in 2021, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about PFAS contamination at U.S. military installations. Last July, his group’s suggested PFAS cleanup strategy was adopted by the Assistant Secretary of Defense as a national policy directive for implementation at all military installations across the nation.

Tony practices law at Ufer, Spaniola & Frost, P.C. He holds an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.

Robert Delaney co-authored the 2012 internal Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) report titled Michigan’s Contamination Induced Human Health Crisis, Addressing Michigan’s Future by Facing the Challenge of the Evolving Nature of Environmental Contamination. The report was a warning to the EGLE leadership of the widespread contamination of the environment by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and the dangers of human exposure to PFAS and other widespread contaminants in the environment. In the report, Mr. Delaney predicted the widespread contamination of Michigan’s drinking water and surface waters that are now being documented. He also laid out a road map for addressing the PFAS contamination crisis.

Mr. Delaney has over 36 years of experience with EGLE. He has provided regulatory oversight on the Department of Defense environmental restoration efforts at former and active bases in Michigan. Since 2010 he has served on numerous state and national technical work groups studying and providing guidance on PFAS contamination. Currently he is retired and continues to provide volunteer help for communities impacted by PFAS contamination.

Phil Roos was named director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in July of 2023. Roos oversees EGLE’s $1 billion budget and 1,400-person team dedicated to protecting Michigan’s environment and public health through managing the state’s air, water and land and energy resources.

Nestled in the heart of the world’s greatest freshwater ecosystem, EGLE has a unique regulatory role in ensuring the Great Lakes and their connecting waters remain the vital cultural, recreational, ecological, and economic engines of the region. The agency also regulates air quality, waste management, drinking water, groundwater, oil and gas extraction, and contaminated site remediation.

Roos is an entrepreneur, business leader, and a consultant with deep expertise in organizational strategy, innovation, and growth. He has held senior leadership positions in numerous large and early-stage companies, as well as two consulting firms he founded.

Environmental protection has been a constant in Roos’ life. He has been a longtime board member and officer of wildlife, conservation, and health organizations and was vice chair of Michigan’s Council on Climate Solutions.

Roos holds an bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

Jahred Liddie is a doctoral candidate in Population Health Sciences in the Environmental Health Department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is a member of the Biogeochemistry of Global Contaminants Lab, led by Prof. Elsie Sunderland. His doctoral research focuses on sociodemographic disparities in drinking water contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), temporal trends in PFAS drinking water contamination, and implications for population health due to widespread PFAS exposures.

Jahred is originally from central New Jersey. He received his B.A. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from Harvard College and his M.S. in Environmental Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The Grostic Family farm began in the early 1900’s by Jason’s Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother as a dairy farm. It has continued through three more generations. Through those years the family grew and the torch was handed down to the next generation. In the early 70’s Jason’s parents bought more land and expanded the farm to where it is today. In 1995 Jason’s Father, Jerry Sr., died in a tragic farming accident. This left the farm to Jason’s Mother and the three boys to run since his Grandparents were no longer at the age that they could help. It was soon after that Jason’s Mother decided that it was too difficult to continue as a dairy farm. Two of her sons were going in different directions from working on the farm leaving her and Jason to manage the farm.

After receiving his degree in dairy management from MSU Jason then stepped up and took the farm in a different direction and started to raise beef cattle and grow row crops to sell as cash crop. He set up a breeding program and for the next five years the herd grew bigger and bigger each year. In 2009 Jason expanded the business by getting his license to sell meat to the public. This avenue started at the local Farmers Market selling packaged meat. While Jason’s family grew so did his business. Each year he sold more and more meat, continuing to sell at the farmer market, and directly from the farm selling larger packages like whole and half cows. He included his wife and children every step of the way. They would join him every Saturday at the farmers market helping to sell meat as well as help with the chores on the farm.

Allison Jumper is a community PFAS contamination awareness advocate and a member of the National PFAS Contamination Coalition. She and her family were highly exposed to PFAS by consuming food produced on PFAS contaminated farmland in Maine. Sludge contaminated with PFAS had been spread on that land in the 1990s. Since discovering her family’s PFAS exposure, Allison has worked to uncover the extent of PFAS contamination on farmland due to historic and current sludge/biosolids spreading practices, and to educate her immediate community about the health concerns that are related to food grown on land where PFAS contaminated sludge and biosolids has been spread.

Allison has a Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and a Master of Arts in Teaching (Mathematics) from Providence College in Providence, RI.

Raised in the City of Newburgh, Jennifer Rawlison entered into the world of environmental and community advocacy upon learning that for decades her community's watershed and drinking water supply had been contaminated with “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. She is an active member of Newburgh Clean Water Project and is an community outreach consultant for Riverkeeper since 2022.

Jennifer works to protect and remediate the City of Newburgh’s Washington Lake, its primary drinking water source as well as the watershed, to ensure a safe and healthy future for her two daughters Marta and Nicole. She is also passionate about connecting those who are directly impacted by PFAS contamination to receive the supportive services that they need.

She participates in local, state and national forums representing the Newburgh community and was recognized as a City of Newburgh Human Rights’ Commission Hero for her environmental work. Jennifer currently sits on the Stewart Air National Guard’s Restoration Advisory Board ("RAB") and is part of the Leadership Team for the National PFAS Contamination Coalition working to raise awareness of the harm PFAS can cause to people and the environment.

Dr. David N. Collier, MD, PhD, FAAP is a professor of pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine (BSOM) at East Carolina University in Greenville NC. He earned a BS in Animal Science from North Carolina State University, completed a PhD in Microbiology/Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and attended Medical School and completed a residency in Pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine, joining the BSOM faculty in 2004.

Dr. Collier is the Director of ECU’s Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment Center and serves as a Co-Director for the Translational Research Support Core for NC State University’s NIEHS funded Center for Human Health and the Environment (Fenton, PI). He has been a Co-Investigator on the GenX Exposure Study (Hoppin, PI) since 2017. This longitudinal health study is exploring PFAS exposure and health outcomes in three highly exposed communities in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River basin.

Dr. Courtney Carignan is an exposure scientist and epidemiologist who investigates exposure to contaminants in food, water and consumer products - and effects on reproductive and child health. She has a strong track record translating research for environmental public health protection and conducts PFAS exposure biomonitoring and health studies for pregnant women, children, workers and residents with drinking water contamination in Michigan and across the country. Outcomes of particular focus have included fertility, reproduction and immune function. She also conducts exposure and risk assessments for environmental contaminants and helps lead the PFAS Exchange as an online resource for PFAS impacted communities. Dr. Carignan has 20 years of experience in environmental health, with 10 years focused primarily on PFAS.

Dr. Carignan serves as a subject matter expert for state and federal agencies. She has received numerous awards including the prestigious Joan Daisey Outstanding Scientist Award and Distinguished Partnership Award for Community Engaged Service. She is primarily funded by the U.S. EPA, NIH and USDA.

Dr. Carignan is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health from the Boston University School of Public Health with a focus on epidemiology in community settings. She completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health and Dartmouth College. She has 5 years of experience working as an environmental risk assessor and holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University.

Following graduate school and a post-doctoral research position with NOAA, Kris started work as an Analytical Chemist in 3M’s Environmental Lab in 1996, leveraging her experience in trace level analysis to work on a variety of 3M challenges 3M. In 1997, Kris and her team “discovered” the global contamination of PFAS, specifically via 3M’s signature PFAS molecule, PFOS, first in the blood of the general population and then in the broader environment, including water, birds, fish and mammals. Within a year, the team had identified and characterized over a dozen PFAS compounds in the environment. During the next 3 years (through 2001), Kris provided technical leadership pursuing the extent and sources of PFAS contamination within a high stress and highly political environment at 3M.

In consensus with 3M lab management and amidst an increasingly confined work environment, Kris left the Environmental Lab in 2001 to pursue other opportunities within 3M. Following review of now public disclosures from 3M (specifically, those available via the Attorney General of MN following settlement of 2018 litigation between 3M and Minnesota), Kris began to document examples of “unseen” and “undone” science perpetrated in what she perceives to be 3M’s quest to manufacture doubt around their role in creating and covering up 3M’s role in PFAS global contamination.

As a new employee working as an “outsider” inside 3M, Kris experienced anxiety, fear, and self doubt resulting from persistent questions about her loyalty, competence, and integrity and from what she perceived as intentional misdirection from company leadership.

Mark S. Rossi, PhD, Executive Director, Clean Production Action

Mark has decades of experience creating solutions for safer chemicals and sustainable materials. Part of the CPA team since 2004, he began as Research Director and Co-Director, before rising to Executive Director in 2016. Mark is a member of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act Advisory Committee and recipient of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific and Technology Achievement Award, US EPA Region I’s Environmental Merit Award, and the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s P2 Ambassador Award.

He is a leader with the unique ability to bring together diverse groups and achieve innovative outcomes. Mark co-created GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals, a globally-recognized chemical hazard assessment method used by governments and businesses in the electronics, apparel, and building sectors to identify safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. In 2017, Mark led CPA’s launch of GreenScreen Certified®, a certification program for products that meet rigorous chemical hazard criteria.

Mark co-founded the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP), a first-of-its-kind initiative to quantitatively measure chemical footprints, and allow manufacturers and retailers to benchmark and communicate their progress in chemicals management performance and in reducing potentially hazardous chemicals relative to industry peers.

He is the founder of BizNGO, a collaborative of businesses, NGOs, and governments that work together to create solutions for safer chemicals and sustainable materials. Mark’s career spans work with the Tellus Institute, Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute, and Health Care Without Harm. His doctorate is in Environmental Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).