HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI, will lead a Thursday hearing into how the U.S. military handled PFAS contamination on installations around the U.S., including the now-decommissioned Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, MI.
The hearing will be livestreamed: facebook.com/photo?fbid=478818580275188&set=a.430471125109934.
Peters told WHTC military officials knew for five years the hazards of chemicals as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly called PFAS, used for firefighting. That information wasn’t shared with members of the armed forces or civilians living near bases where the chemicals have now been found in area groundwater, Peters said. PFAS belong in a category called “forever chemicals” and need to be cleaned out of the environments. Listen to the full interview:
“I’ve met folks who have just intolerable levels of this PFAS in their bloodstreams right now,” Peters said, adding that when the federal government is culpable for that, the people affected have care resources.
He went on to say many of the PFAS-contaminated are not government sites, but belong to private companies, which also need to be held accountable.
Testimony set for 10:15 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9 will include two sessions, with the following people:
First session
- The Honorable Sean O’Donnell, Inspector General, Environmental Protection Agency and Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense
- Michael J. Roark, Deputy Inspector General for Evaluations, U.S. Department of Defense
- Richard G. Kidd, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment and Energy Resilience, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Sustainment, U.S. Department of Defense
- Laura Macaluso, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Force Safety and Occupational Health, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense
Second session
- Tony Spaniola, Co-Chair, Great Lakes PFAS Action Network
- Andrea Amico, Co-Founder, Testing for Pease
- Mark Johnson, Deputy Director of Business and Regulatory Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, State of Ohio
The hearings will be livestreamed online:
- Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC7LYNbnKSK2VZqQ98YROWHQ
- Facebook: facebook.com/SenGaryPeters/
- Twitter: twitter.com/SenGaryPeters
- C-Span: c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-3
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