Vice President Harris supports Michigan-led plan to provide medical care for military victims of PFAS

October 25, 2024

Read the full article by Lisa John Rogers (Great Lakes Now)

"Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee introduced The Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act in July of 2023. Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris announced her support for the bill as a part of her presidential campaign. If passed, this would make it easier for veterans who were exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) while serving to access medical benefits and disability.

“Today, there are more than 700 military sites with known or suspected PFAS contamination, including in Michigan,” said Rep. Kildee in a statement on October 23. “I applaud the Biden-Harris administration for acting earlier this year to set a drinking water standard for several types of PFAS chemicals. But the federal government, the Defense Department and private companies must act more quickly to address this growing and urgent public health threat.”

This comes on the heels of a letter sent to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general Robert Storch by Michigan congressional leaders asking to add more oversight to the PFAS remediation efforts around military bases in the state. According to reporting by Teresa Homsi at WCMU, the U.S. Air Force recently revealed two cleanups in Oscoda will not be carried out for another five years. It has already been five years since Rep. Kildee first asked the DOD to look into their use of PFAS and the effects that these “forever chemicals” are having on military personnel, as well as the civilians living on or near military bases."