State officials and Oscoda residents have again clashed with the Air Force at a May 17 Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting over cleanup regulations at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base.
The Air Force currently has “stopgap” systems at Wurtsmith, which work to limit PFAS-contaminated runoff from the base. The systems capture contaminated water, filter it, and discharge the treated water.
For a new planned system, the Air Force said it doesn’t intend to sign an agreement that would allow the state to oversee discharge levels.
Air Force site manager Steve Willis said the Department of Defense is exempt from this permit, known as a Substantive Requirements Document (SRD). Willis said the discharge levels will be more protective at the new facility.
“We fully expect that the discharge requirements for this treatment system are going to be much lower than what they are for the existing systems,” Willis said.
“-Because the existing SRDs give you guys a lot of leeway as to how poorly you can operate and still be in compliance,” said RAB board member Rex Vaughn.
“It's not the words I would use, but yes, the discharge levels are fairly high,” Willis said.
Willis said the Air Force still intends to comply with the state’s requirements, even without the permit.
Bill Gaines, a community member and former Air Force officer, said the Air Force is failing to follow its own code of honor.
“The legality of it is one thing, the ethics of it are another thing,” Gaines said. “We really shouldn't have to beg to get you to comply with the ethical way of doing business.”
Charlie Bauer is with the Water Resources Division at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). He said the permit is standard practice. Without it - reporting of the discharge PFAS levels would not be required, and the facility may not be able to operate.
“We just want a reporting framework, so that we have an idea of how that system is functioning on an ongoing basis,” Bauer said. “It's not unreasonable to have that.”
Beth Place, an EGLE site manager, said she hopes to solve the permitting issue to prevent additional cleanup delays.
Earlier this year, the citizen group, Need Our Water (NOW), demanded four additional clean-up measures on the base. The Air Force initially rejected them, but at the meeting, said it will evaluate the measures.
“The fact that we are 13 years into [PFAS cleanup] - we don't have a finished plan, and we have to beg and plead for interim remedial actions to keep these flows of PFAS from coming into our community is utterly ridiculous,” said Cathy Wusterbarth, a RAB member and co-leader of NOW.
The RAB meeting also included discussion on an ever-growing to-do list of “action items.” The list is not publicly available, but it has 25 uncompleted requests, some of which go back more than two years.
Community RAB members suggested placing deadlines on action items and scheduling a special meeting to address the list.
