Posted on Feb 11, 2022
‘A flat out lie:’ PFAS activists blast Air Force claim about Michigan veterans
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Activists and experts are accusing U.S. defense officials of lying about whether veterans and their families drank toxic PFAS chemicals in the water at Wurtsmith Air Force Base before the installation closed in the early 1990s.
In a public outreach document, the U.S. Department of Defense claims to be ignorant of data showing Wurtsmith veterans were highly exposed to the toxic chemicals — a claim one former Michigan regulator who studied the base extensively characterized as a blatant falsehood.
In a public outreach document, the U.S. Department of Defense claims to be ignorant of data showing Wurtsmith veterans were highly exposed to the toxic chemicals — a claim one former Michigan regulator who studied the base extensively characterized as a blatant falsehood.
‘A flat out lie:’ PFAS activists blast Air Force claim about Michigan veterans
Posted from mlive.com
Wurtsmith AFB
Hazmat
Chemicals
DoD
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...“The DAF (Department of the Air Force) is not aware of data which would support the assertion that veterans and their families at Wurtsmith were drinking water with very high levels of PFAS,” defense officials wrote in the document, which was released in January.
“That’s a flat out lie,” said Bob Delaney, a retired geologist who led the state’s oversight at the former B-52 bomber base for years as site manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
In 2016, Delaney authored a report which found high PFAS levels in unflushed hydrants and old water appliances in abandoned buildings at the former base. In 2018, he followed that up with hydrogeological analysis, which concluded old groundwater wells that supplied base drinking water likely drew from an aquifer highly contaminated by toxic plumes.
Delaney, a former state coordinator for a defense site remediation grant program at EGLE, discovered PFAS at Wurtsmith in 2010 and tried for years to elevate widespread concern regarding the toxic chemicals within state government and U.S. defense remediation circles.
He said both the 2016 and 2018 EGLE reports were sent to Air Force leaders and discussed with defense officials during regular remediation team meetings. The impetus for the reports was to create data that could support the development of a health study that would potentially help sickened Wurtsmith veterans receive disability and health benefits."...
...“The DAF (Department of the Air Force) is not aware of data which would support the assertion that veterans and their families at Wurtsmith were drinking water with very high levels of PFAS,” defense officials wrote in the document, which was released in January.
“That’s a flat out lie,” said Bob Delaney, a retired geologist who led the state’s oversight at the former B-52 bomber base for years as site manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
In 2016, Delaney authored a report which found high PFAS levels in unflushed hydrants and old water appliances in abandoned buildings at the former base. In 2018, he followed that up with hydrogeological analysis, which concluded old groundwater wells that supplied base drinking water likely drew from an aquifer highly contaminated by toxic plumes.
Delaney, a former state coordinator for a defense site remediation grant program at EGLE, discovered PFAS at Wurtsmith in 2010 and tried for years to elevate widespread concern regarding the toxic chemicals within state government and U.S. defense remediation circles.
He said both the 2016 and 2018 EGLE reports were sent to Air Force leaders and discussed with defense officials during regular remediation team meetings. The impetus for the reports was to create data that could support the development of a health study that would potentially help sickened Wurtsmith veterans receive disability and health benefits."...
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