Lower P.b.b. Levels!

(Mailgram) Sen. John Hertel / Michigan Senate Sen. Bobby Crim / Michigan House of Representatives, Lansing

We urge the legislature to act immediately on House Bill 6144, in accordance with the recommendations of the Governor's Task Force, to lower the permissible levels of PBB in Michigan foodstuffs.

The Governor's panel has provided expert and impartial substantiation of the risk to the health and livelihoods of Michigan farmers and consumers posed by the presence of levels of PBB considerably above the lowest reliably measurable level of .005 parts per million.

We have confidence in the recommendations of the Task Force, but we see no reason to trust the Michigan Farm Bureau Services, which has recently engaged in an extensive statewide campaign to convince farmers that it is somehow in their interest to maintain the currently permissible levels.

It should be obvious that the current standards are in the interests of no one but Farm Bureau Services, which bears the primary responsibility for the current dangerous situation.

We also urge the Legislature to reconsider House Bill 6115, or similar legislation, to allow the State to compensate farmers who have suffered losses because of PBB poisoning, and also allows the State to recover compensation from the responsible parties.