U.S. Air Force officials say it will be “years” before they will consider a request by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to apply Michigan standards to the PFAS cleanup at the former Wurtsmith Air Force base.
Last month, Whitmer sent a letter to the Department of Defense invoking a federal law to compel the Air Force to meet Michigan’s PFAS clean-up standards.
Mark Correll is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety and Infrastructure.
He says the Air Force will consider the governor’s request, but not right now.
“While at this point, I can’t guarantee, yes, that’s what’s going to be selected. If you look at the history, in general, more stringent standards tend to be the ones that are selected.”
The Air Force claims to have treated a billion gallons of contaminated groundwater.
But Oscoda residents are frustrated by the pace and focus of the clean-up.