GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Two Senators from Michigan have introduced two bills to clean up a group of chemicals known as PFAS at U.S. military bases.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, have introduced the Clean Water for Military Families Act and the Filthy Fifty Act, they said in a joint Wednesday release.
The two bills would require the Department of Defense to identify and clean up PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in military bases across the country.
PFAS chemicals were used for years in manufacturing, and has been found in drinking water after seeping into the ground and contaminating water sources.
The chemicals have been found in drinking water across Michigan, with large contamination sites near Rockford and in Parchment.
“These bills would provide much-needed deadlines and important resources for remediating PFAS contamination at military facilities in our state,” Peters said in the release. “We owe it to our Michigan veterans and our communities to get this done.”
The $10 billion legislation includes two of Michigan’s military bases, Wurtsmith Air Force Base and KI Sawyer, on a list of priority installations, the Senators said.