EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is demanding the Environmental Protection Agency prevent a " Flint water crisis " from occurring inside federal buildings, arguing telework and the agency's focus on climate policies led to unsafe drinking water.
In a letter sent Wednesday to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner, the Iowa senator pointed to several reports from the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General. The reports found that water in several federal buildings, including employee child care centers, was contaminated with "dangerous toxins."
"The conditions are a direct result of lead, copper, and Legionella accumulating in stagnant water in the buildings after being abandoned by bureaucrats at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic," Ernst wrote. "Four years later, the dangers persist because bureaucrats refuse to come back to work."
She awarded the EPA this month's "Squeal Award," her accountability effort that condemns "reckless spending habits" in Washington. In her award announcement, Ernst called on the Biden-Harris administration to "get the lead out, literally."
"The buildings were left abandoned since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn caused contaminated water, which in turn led to buildings once again being vacated to avoid health threats caused by underutilization," the Squeal Award reads. "As a result, those who are showing up are being put at risk."
Several reports have been released over the years — the first in September 2022, followed by September 2023, and most recently in July. Inaction from the EPA led Ernst to send the letter Wednesday morning, according to her team.
A GSA report found that one-fourth of the locations in federal buildings tested “have shown the presence of Legionella bacteria in exceedance of established thresholds," according to Ernst's letter to the EPA. In a child care center in Seattle, lead concentrations were almost "14 times higher than the EPA action level," but the building remained operational for two years after it was reopened and two months after samples were collected. Other bacteria have been found in places such as the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in Michigan and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"We cannot allow another Flint water crisis to occur inside federal buildings," Ernst wrote. "Because the GSA is failing to ensure the safety of the water in government buildings, I urge the EPA to issue emergency orders protecting civil servants and other visitors to these buildings, especially the children in the day care centers."
Ernst said in a statement that federal employees need to return to work to "focus on ensuring safe drinking water in government day care centers, instead of pushing radical agendas and big government takeovers.”
"Mass teleworking is allowing dangerous contaminants to fester, making water in many federal buildings less safe to drink than in Flint, Michigan," the Iowa senator said. "To make matters worse, EPA was completely unaware that buildings housing its own offices have had toxic water for years because Biden bureaucrats have been focused on implementing the Green New Deal and fighting a legal battle to seize control of 97% of land in Iowa."
This is the latest step from Ernst to hold government agencies accountable for teleworking as the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided. The senator's investigation in June found that 1 in 4 Department of Commerce employees had moved to areas with lower rates of pay but still received a higher pay rate associated with higher cost of living areas.
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In May, Ernst demanded that the Pentagon present a plan to verify teleworkers are actually working , including using VPN tracking or employee traffic logs.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the EPA for comment.
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