Three Michigan members of Congress are calling for the Airforce to clean up contamination in Oscoda, Michigan.
In a letter sent to the Air Force last week, Senators Peters and Stabenow and Congressman Dan Kildee called for the airforce to prioritize cleanup of the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base.
The base was found to be leaking PFAs, a chemical contaminant linked to cancer, into the groundwater.
US Senator Gary Peters said an analysis has already been done.
“There’s no question things haven’t moved quickly enough. I will say they have a willingness to move quickly but they have an issue of resources as well. There is not enough money currently to deal with all of the problems across the country.”
Peters says funding was increased for environmental remediation of former bases by 54 million.
He said Oscoda should become a priority.
“This is a significant contamination, there’s been a great deal of analysis and it’s time that the clean up begins in earnest.”
According to the letter sent to the Air Force, The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality estimates in 2018 alone remediation of Wurtsmith will cost roughly 33 million.