WASHINGTON — A representative of Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration on Thursday criticized the Pentagon for delays in providing data on potential chemical contamination from active and former military bases in Michigan and across the U.S. that may be spreading to drinking water.

In a hearing called by a U.S. House subcommittee, Carol Isaacs — who is leading Snyder’s team to respond to a threat posed by potentially dangerous chemical compounds known as PFAS — said that even though the Defense Department has identified more than 400 active and former bases across its system where there were suspected releases, it has been slow to release results of testing on those bases in Michigan and to otherwise respond to the threat.

“We are very disappointed in the pace of the DOD (Department of Defense) and bases to respond to testing,” said Isaacs, who added that, in lieu of those test results, the state is left to initiate testing around potentially contaminated bases to determine as best they as it can whether chemicals have moved into local water supplies.

As the Free Press has reported, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has said that PFAS — chemicals that had applications in making furniture, clothing and packaging and were widely used in firefighting foam used on military bases — may contaminate more than 11,300 sites statewide and recently were found in large enough qualities to shut down water supplies for a time last month in Parchment and Cooper Township in southwestern Michigan.

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Some years ago, PFAS — which may result in developmental damage to fetuses in pregnant mothers, elevated risks of cancer and other health effects — were found to be lingering in groundwater in and around the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda and then at other military facilities in Michigan. Meanwhile, amid a nationwide call for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce its current advisory standard on potentially dangerous exposure to water supplies with more than 70 parts per trillion of PFAS, hundreds of water systems in Michigan have been found to have some amount of PFAS below that.

Isaacs comment came in response to a question by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, who on Wednesday received a draft copy of tests results from Kellogg Air National Guard Base in Battle Creek that indicated that at some sites on the base, the levels of contamination were far higher than 70 parts per trillion — reaching tens of thousands of parts per trillion in some areas.

Upton asked the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment, Maureen Sullivan, about the results — and why it had taken four months after the testing was done for him to see them, despite the Defense Department’s pledge to be “open and transparent” about its findings. She said she was unfamiliar with the results.

As part of the hearing, Peter Grevatt, director of the EPA’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water, noted that the agency hopes to have a nationwide action plan for responding to PFAS — which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in place by year’s end. That includes a decision on whether to establish an enforceable contaminant level for PFAS and designate it a hazardous substance – actions that would allow it to require local water systems to take action when levels are detected and, through the Superfund program, pay for cleanup and recover costs from those who used the chemicals.

PFAS have become a nationwide concern in recent years as technological advances allowed for it to be detected more readily through testing. Since then, there have been worries about just how widespread a threat it may pose: Last week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services extended a “Do Not Eat” fish advisory for parts of the Huron River after finding contaminated fish.

“I fear that this is only the beginning,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who along with Upton and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, questioned the EPA and others about PFAS at Thursday’s hearing before the House Environment Subcommittee. In talking to Grevatt, Dingell asked him not to let the bureaucracy drag on through several more years before taking concrete steps to address the threat.

“Republicans and Democrats are pretty unified here,” she said.

Meanwhile, Grevatt and Isaacs seemed to agree that even though the EPA and Michigan haven’t been able to come to terms about holding a meeting on the issue in the state — despite their being several others held across the U.S. — both parties are still willing to try to settle any differences.

“If they have now decided that they want us to come,” Grevatt said, “we’ll come.”

Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at tspangler@freepress.com.

