(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/17/2023) Thursday’s Department of Defense (DoD) announcement to install groundwater treatment systems to clean up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda was met with praise from legislators and clean water activists alike.
Iosco County’s former air force base used fire extinguishing foam containing PFAS to train for the event of a jet fuel fire on an aircraft, leading to years of groundwater contamination in local waterways.
Tony Spaniola, co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network and member of Need Our Water in Oscoda, said he was elated to hear about the interim solution for cleanup.
Spaniola said the issue has become a citizen-led initiative that’s been taken up by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Oakland County), and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly).
Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, said in a press release that he’ll “continue to push the Air Force to take additional steps and hold them and other federal agencies accountable to mitigate PFAS at Wurtsmith and in other Michigan communities.”
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante said in a press release that he recognizes there is still more work to do, and he looks forward to building upon the progress as the department honors its commitment.
Cutting off the PFAS migration will prevent contamination of water at a local YMCA camp and state campground nearby, Spaniola said.
“Members of the service were told this stuff was safe, like bubble bath. They washed their cars with it. They would take their kids out and have ‘foam days’ and literally spray it on the little kids,” Spaniola said.
