Oscoda Township will receive $1 million in two grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help homes that are using well water threatened by PFAS contamination to connect to the municipal drinking water system.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, announced the grants Monday, saying they’ll aid in cleaning up contamination near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base by a potentially harmful class of fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS.
Oscoda will receive $750,000 in Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants and $250,000 in Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants.
"While I fought in Congress to get these funds for Oscoda to ensure drinking water for residents, the Air Force must do more to clean up the contamination that they caused."
The “do-not-eat” advisory for deer taken within five miles of Clark’s Marsh was issued by the Michigan departments of Natural Resources and Health and Humans Services, after one of 20 deer tested at 547 parts per billion for PFOS, a type of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, chemical.
The test is almost double the action level of 300 ppb used when the state considers do-not-eat advisories for fish.
A do-not-eat fish advisory also remains in place for the area around Clark’s Marsh.
Kildee had introduced an amendment that passed Congress to double the size of USDA Rural Development’s Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants for communities with drinking water contamination.
Kildee urged the Pentagon and environmental regulators to address PFAS contamination more urgently.
mburke@detroitnews.com