On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) asked the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General to add oversight on the department’s efforts to remediate per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Michigan communities.
Peters, the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, made the request to look into the remediation efforts on the on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the communities of Oscoda and Grayling, Michigan, in an Oct. 9 letter. The letter comes nearly five years after U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) asked the DOD to examine its use of PFAS at military sites across the country, as well as the effect of PFAs on military personnel and civilians living on or near military bases who may have been exposed to the chemicals.
“PFAS chemicals remain a grave danger to the health of our communities and environment. Residents of Oscoda and Grayling, Michigan, continue to cope with exposure from toxic PFAS chemicals stemming from the decades of extensive use of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) fire suppressant at Wurtsmith and Camp Grayling,” Peters wrote. “While I am pleased that we have been able to increase resources and personnel to remedy these harmful chemicals, I remain concerned for the health and well-being of my constituents in these communities.”
Peters asked the Inspector General to provide answers to what methodology the DoD is using to determine the scope of the problem and how to allocate its resources to address it; the work the DoD has done with service members, their families and impacted community members to remediate contamination; the DoD’s plan to discontinue using PFAS; and the DoD efforts and future plans to mitigate further spread of PFAs.