Rep. McDonald Rivet, PFAS Task Force Call on Pentagon to Accelerate PFAS Cleanup Near Military Facilities

WASHINGTON- Today, bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force Co-Chairs Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), and Jen Kiggans (VA-02) called on the Department of Defense (DOD) to immediately address overdue PFAS forever chemical cleanup and transparency requirements.

"DOD has failed to clean up the dangerous, forever chemicals that have hurt hundreds of communities across the country. Cleanup timelines have been pushed back and slow-rolled repeatedly without providing communities the transparency they deserve," said Congresswoman McDonald Rivet. "Since President Trump signed our bill into law, these deadlines are not optional. DOD needs to step up and work with us to protect the health and wellbeing of the families living near these contaminated sites."

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals," have contaminated soil, surface water, groundwater, and food across the country, including hundreds of military installations and surrounding communities, with over a dozen located in Michigan. Some PFAS can cause harmful health effects, including damage to the immune system, reproductive issues, and an increased risk of certain cancers.

Congresswoman McDonald Rivet's Military PFAS Transparency Act, which was signed into law in December 2025, required DOD to accelerate cleanup strategies for PFAS and increase public transparency surrounding cleanup efforts and timelines by June 16, 2026. However, DOD has failed to do so, and instead recently delayed cleanup timelines by up to 20 years at nearly 200 sites across the country.

The letter from the lawmakers reads, in part, "Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemical substances pose an ongoing and immediate health risk to millions of Americans. Research provided by DOD suggests that exposure to high levels of certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes such as reproductive issues and increased risk of some cancers, and the DOD PFAS Task Force stated that reports indicate most people in the United States have been exposed to PFAS and have PFAS in their blood. Further, EPA's water monitoring data and state tests found that PFAS have been detected in tap water serving millions nationwide. This is a widespread and urgent public health crisis.

"Nationally, there are over 700 military sites with known or suspected PFAS contamination from DOD activities. We are extremely concerned about DOD's efforts to permanently address this contamination to support the members of our Armed Forces and the surrounding communities, as DOD has significantly delayed progress… It is unacceptable that DOD has continued to deprioritize these cleanup efforts despite its legal obligation and continued resources and direction to do so from Congress."

A copy of the letter can be found here.