PFAS Cleanup

Following an announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency bringing an end to regulations on multiple types of PFAS in drinking water, members of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network are speaking out, warning the decision could threaten the safety and health of millions of people across the nation.

A new team at the former Wurtsmith Air Force base in Oscoda is promising to improve transparency and expedite cleanup actions to address leaching contamination in the Au Sable River.

Management is changing at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. Defense officials say the new structure will improve transparency and the cleanup of toxic "forever chemicals."

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) recently sent a letter to the Department of Defense, demanding a detailed plan to address contaminated military sites.

Calls for urgency aren't new among Oscoda residents, but a revised timeline that pushes PFAS systems on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base back by roughly two years is catching flack.

The National Science Foundation has given a Marquette, Michigan company a grant to research whether some types of fungi can break down or otherwise destroy PFAS.

At a recent public meeting, Oscoda residents expressed their frustration that a cleanup system to reduce contamination in the Au Sable River is still years away from being built.

Spaniola said it's been a whirlwind after the Environmental Protection Agency implemented federal drinking water standards for PFAS and then listed two of the chemicals as "hazardous substances."

Grayling residents are calling on the Department of Defense to pitch in and fund a project that would bring clean drinking water to contaminated parts of their community.

Oscoda residents got a few wins after the Air Force recently expanded PFAS cleanup actions, but community members say certain areas are being overlooked.