Peters Calls on Defense Department to Swiftly Address Concerning Watchdog Findings on PFAS Contamination at Mili...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is calling on the Department of Defense (DOD) to swiftly implement recommendations from a new independent watchdog report examining the Department’s efforts to address harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at military installations across the country. The DOD Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, which Peters requested in 2024 with a particular focus on the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, and surrounding Michigan communities, found significant gaps in the Department’s efforts to identify and respond to PFAS contamination.
“This report shows an unacceptable lack of urgency from the Defense Department to address toxic PFAS contamination harming Michiganders’ health and safety,” Peters said. “The Department is missing its own timelines, failing to act at sites where immediate steps may be warranted, and has not even accounted for every installation where PFAS may have been detected. Every year that DOD delays this work is another year that toxic chemicals can continue moving through our groundwater and into surrounding communities. DOD should not need Congress to force it to act, but until the Department prioritizes PFAS remediation and addresses this serious public health threat, I will keep pushing to make sure these cleanups move forward.”
The Inspector General report raises serious concerns that DOD is missing opportunities to reduce immediate risks to public health and surrounding communities. The watchdog found that DOD took nearly five years on average to complete initial assessments and site inspections — far longer than its typical one-to-three-year timeline — and that additional delays occurred before sites moved into the next phase of review. It also found that, of 60 installations reviewed where DOD was proceeding without interim actions, 19 had factors that may warrant immediate action, but DOD officials did not document why they declined to act. The report also identified 82 additional former military installations that were not on DOD’s list of sites where PFAS were used or potentially released.
The report issued five recommendations to strengthen DOD’s PFAS response, including requiring the Department to verify and document whether PFAS were released at all current and former installations, establish clearer procedures for determining and documenting when interim actions are needed, update its cleanup timelines to reflect actual progress, and document whether additional testing of potentially affected off-base drinking water sources is warranted. DOD agreed to address all five of the report’s recommendations.
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Peters authored provisions in this year’s annual bipartisan defense bill that would require DOD to take more immediate action on PFAS contamination. One Peters provision would force DOD to initiate interim remediation actions at over 50 sites where cleanup timelines have been delayed and prioritize completion of ongoing interim cleanup work. Peters also secured provisions to increase resources for community participation in PFAS cleanup efforts and require DOD to notify affected communities when cleanup timelines on its public PFAS dashboard change.
Peters has long pushed the Defense Department to address PFAS contamination in Michigan. 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. Peters helped convene the first ever hearing on PFAS contamination in the Senate in 2018. 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 a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month, 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.
Read the full Inspector General report here.
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