Senator Peters Introduces Bipartisan Bill Requiring the Defense Department to Accelerate PFAS Clean-Up at Michigan Military Installations

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the Department of Defense (DOD) to accelerate the cleanup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination at military installations in Michigan and across the United States. The bill, which Peters introduced with U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), comes after the Trump Administration has repeatedly pushed back the timeline for PFAS remediation efforts at more than 300 DOD sites nationwide, with some projects being delayed up to 40 years. This includes delays to 11 cleanup projects at military installations across Michigan, including the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Kellogg Air National Guard Base, Camp Grayling, K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Detroit Arsenal, Grand Ledge Army Aviation Support Facility, and Kincheloe Air Force Base.

"Americans across the country are living at heightened risk of PFAS exposure from contamination at nearby military installations, depriving some communities of access to safe drinking water. Yet, the Department of Defense continues to drag its feet and delay essential cleanup projects that would help keep these military communities safe," said Senator Peters. "It's past time that the Department of Defense treats this growing public health crisis with the urgency it deserves. This bipartisan bill would force them to get shovels in the ground and begin cleanup of these sites without further delay."

"This bipartisan bill changes the focus - from long term delays to quick and effective PFAS cleanup actions - at military installations across the nation," said Tony Spaniola, Co-Chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network. "Interim cleanup actions are a key component of the 'Wurtsmith Cleanup Model' developed by community experts in my town of Oscoda, Michigan and incorporated in national policy guidance from the Pentagon more than three years ago. On behalf of military communities across the Great Lakes region and beyond, I think Senator Peters and Senator Rounds for their leadership on this important issue."

"People living near active and former military sites in Michigan are grappling with health complications from drinking water poisoned PFAS chemical pollution, yet the Department of Defense continues to drag its feet on cleaning up this contamination that would save lives and taxpayer money," said Bentley Johnson, Federal Government Affairs Director of Michigan League of Conservation Voters. "The PFAS Rapid Response Act includes much-needed solutions to kick start interim remediation actions and help people get the relief from toxic contamination that they deserve."

The PFAS RAPID Response Act would require DOD to initiate PFAS remedial actions at no fewer than 100 military installations within the next two years. The bill expands upon a provision Peters secured in the national defense bill advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee in June by increasing the number of sites at which the Department must take immediate action.

In the Senate, Peters has made it a priority to address PFAS contamination, and its impacts on public health. Most recently, Peters demanded answers from the Trump Administration for its continued delays in cleaning up PFAS contamination at military installations in Michigan and across the country. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Peters called on DOD to reverse its unacceptable postponement of PFAS remediation at military bases and requested detailed explanations for the delays in order to give servicemembers, their families, and the surrounding communities the transparency they deserve. Last year, Peters secured provisions in the national defense bill requiring DOD to develop a PFAS remediation acceleration strategy, create a PFAS transparency dashboard, and provide alternative drinking water - such as bottled water - to households with private drinking water wells that have been contaminated by PFAS as a result of DOD activities.

In September 2018, Peters helped convene the first-ever hearing on PFAS contamination in the Senate, which assessed the federal government's response to PFAS contamination and remediation efforts. Peters also convened a hearing in 2021 as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to examine how servicemembers, their families, and communities across the country have been harmed by exposure to toxic PFAS substances connected to military sites. In 2022, Peters convened a field hearing in East Lansing with?numerous administration?officials?to examine federal efforts and coordination with state and local governments to clean up and prevent contamination from PFAS, and to examine the impact exposure to these toxic chemicals has had on servicemembers, first responders, families, and other Michiganders.

Peters has also introduced and advanced bipartisan legislation to reduce the spread of PFAS chemicals at commercial airports. Peters' Preventing PFAS Runoff at Airports Act, which was signed into law in 2022, is working to deploy more existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding for commercial airports to purchase devices to test their firefighting equipment without discharging toxic PFAS chemicals. In 2022, Peters' bill to help protect firefighters and emergency responders from PFAS exposure in the line of duty was also signed into law. Peters also secured $10 billion in federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for PFAS remediation efforts in Michigan and across the country.

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