DoD’s actions will speed up cleanup of PFAS contamination from former Wurtsmith Air Force Base

AUGUST 17, 2023

OSCODA, Mich. - The Great Lakes PFAS Action Network (GLPAN) and Need Our Water (NOW), Oscoda today hailed an announcement by the Department of Defense to speed up efforts to clean up toxic PFAS contamination stemming from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. These actions come after years of advocacy from elected officials, local PFAS activists with NOW and GLPAN, and community leaders urging the U.S. Air Force to address the contamination, which has impacted the groundwater, wildlife and the health of the community.

“This is an important – and long overdue – step for Wurtsmith, and the result of years of work by our community and a team of bipartisan elected officials, including Congresswoman Slotkin, Congressmen Bergman and Kildee, and Senators Stabenow and Peters, who’ve worked tirelessly on our behalf,” said Tony Spaniola, co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network and member of Need Our Water in Oscoda. “We are grateful to Under Secretary La Plante for his leadership on this issue, and we are thrilled that our citizen-developed plan to “Stop the Bleeding” at Wurtsmith has become the Defense Department’s national policy directive. It is fitting that Wurtsmith is the first place that the policy is being implemented, and we look forward to continuing our efforts to get additional interim remedies implemented with all deliberate speed at Wurtsmith and other military installations across the country.”

The interim actions include the DoD installing groundwater treatment systems at two new sites in Oscoda. Advocates hope this sets the standard in Michigan and across the country for remediation efforts for cleaning up PFAS contamination stemming from U.S. military bases.

“Our community has grappled with PFAS contamination stemming from the Wurtsmith Air Force base for years, and this latest announcement is a big step forward for protecting our health and cleaning up the Au Sable River, Van Etten Lake and Lake Huron,” said Cathy Wusterbarth, co-founder of NOW and a leader in GLPAN. “Countless meetings, negotiations, public awareness events and steadfast advocacy led to these actions. We are grateful for our members of Congress for keeping the pressure on the Department of Defense, and the dedicated PFAS activists in Oscoda and across Michigan for keeping this issue front and center for our leaders.”