Oscoda, Grayling and Mount Clemens have made the list of nearly 40 communities where the Department of Defense will implement PFAS cleanup actions this year.
Last summer, the Pentagon released a policy directive, requiring the DOD to develop "interim remedial actions" (IRAs) at more than 700 of its PFAS-contaminated military installations.
Tony Spaniola, an Oscoda homeowner, told WCMU last August the DOD's strategy is based on Oscoda residents' demands to "stop the bleeding" of PFAS into their community — while a long-term cleanup plan is developed.
"This is the Wurtsmith model being used as a roadmap for cleanups at all military installations,” said Spaniola, a co-founder of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network.
The U.S. Air Force is in the midst of approving and implementing a few cleanup systems in Oscoda, which target PFAS releases into Van Etten Lake and the Au Sable River.
The National Guard is designing a system to limit contaminated water from leaching off Camp Grayling into Lake Margrethe. Construction on that system will begin in the late summer.
See the full list of 40 bases that are implementing IRAs in 2024.
