Nessel filed an October 2020 lawsuit in circuit court alleging that Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, a plastic resin manufacturer based in Fowlerville, had released illegal levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into a swath of land near Brighton.
It'll cost Asahi Kasei Plastics $3.2 million dollars all in all for their poison-n-go biz plan.
Granted, Nessel can't do much about the U.S. Air Force who jeffed up Oscoda's water and ran off like cowards, but it's nice to see a public servant serving the public.
No, sadly it's not the Air Force finally stepping up and living up their obligations, it might actually be better than all that. What if the 'forever chemicals' weren't actually forever? Northwestern University researchers, take it away:
So scientists have tried for years to find ways to break down PFAS, an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. On Thursday, researchers at Northwestern University published a study showing that PFAS can be destroyed using two relatively harmless chemicals: sodium hydroxide or lye, a chemical used to make soap, and dimethyl sulfoxide, a chemical approved as a medication for bladder pain syndrome.
Good news for our fair town. We'll see how this all breaks down over the next little while as to which PFAS chemicals Oscoda may be able to get rid of in a safe and timely manner. Still, this is just the news Oscoda needed!
Indeed, it's pretty much all the USAF does when it comes to PFAS that they caused. Their outright lie now comes as they claim there's no proof veterans and others had ANY PFAS intake through the water source. The Air Force says no, the experts who have the receipts say YES:
“That’s a flat out lie,” said Bob Delaney, a retired geologist who led the state’s oversight at the former B-52 bomber base for years as site manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
In 2016, Delaney authored a report which found high PFAS levels in unflushed hydrants and old water appliances in abandoned buildings at the former base. In 2018, he followed that up with hydrogeological analysis, which concluded old groundwater wells that supplied base drinking water likely drew from an aquifer highly contaminated by toxic plumes.
So, more lies from the Air Force who obviously have given up giving a shit about Oscoda, Wurtsmith and the issue they caused. Unfortunately this repeated insolence from the USAF is really hurting USAF vets around here as they hear again and again what they were part of and that their paymaster won't do anything for the rest of the residents. The Air Force is essentially turning their veterans into second-class citizens in their own town. That's lazy AND sad.
First things first, we'll need to decide if it's SpacePort, Spaceport, Space Port, or Johnny's favorite, Space Punk Space Port. We'll get to this later.
OK kids, Oscoda was the site chosen from many others to be a horizontal space launch site (They are still searching Michigan for a vertical space launch site). It beat out K.I. Sawyer AFB near Marquette and a couple others. So, now that Oscoda has been chosen, what happens next and what can Oscoda Township residents can expect.
The next step? Planners will continue studying the feasibility and submit a detailed report to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. this spring. We'll see what happens there but as Johnny helps call on his experiences in Jersey City about building and new development and building the 'next big thing' and how that all impacts residents and taxpayers, here's what you haven't been told to expect.
Developers and government spokespeople on EVERY deal like this in Anytown USA
This project/thing/deal/colossus will create thousands upon thousands of jobs. ORLY? Here's an idea, quantify that number. Don't throw wild bullshit numbers around and expect people to believe it. Now, we do not have a number of jobs potentially at Spaceport yet but here's what that will sound like, "It'll create thousands of jobs, period." Johnny spent copious time in city council meetings in Jersey City, he went to a handful of planning commission (A Jersey City oxymoron) and had the displeasure of watching 4 40 story buildings go up within two blocks of his condo. Some of these workers might only be there a week or two but they're in the 5000 number being presented. Trust Johnny when he says he knows how this sausage will be made. The job numbers are always the first lie. If they say 5000 jobs oh how they want you to believe there are full-time jobs rife with insurance munny. They're not. They'll include every job they expect to hire, even the one-off jobs and part-time jobs. Why should you care about this? You're going to be paying for it. More on that, hey look, right below.
When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way
Once this thing gets approval nobody is going to stand up for Oscoda residents. When the mayor and city council in Jersey City passed an abatement, which was always, residents be damned and stop asking us about it. Look, the Township trustees are so far on board. Iosco is so on board. Once this starts it will never be slowed down. The powers that be will go over and through residents to make this a reality. They will pass along giant, and Johnny means giant tax abatements for this entire thing. If you think the Spaceport is going to simply re-use the 1970's technology over at Wurtsmith, ie the the buildings and towers and everything physical, Johnny has some land he wants to sell you. New buildings, many new buildings will be built. Do you honestly think the people building the Spaceport are planning on building all their shit on their dime? Nope, they'll head right to the Oscoda Township board and demand tax breaks to be sloughed off on residents. Big tax breaks. Big tax breaks you'll never see benefit one from. Prices don't go down once the new people come in, prices on groceries go up. Taxes go up. People have to move creating housing voids and even less taxes being taken in. It's a downward spiral. This will cost residents more, a LOT more. Oscoda is simply not in the same wealth class as Jersey City (for all its faults, there's a lot of big money there, just not so in Oscoda) and will be less adaptable for cost of living increases.
Sure, let's have the Air Force come back and shit on Oscoda some more
Anything going up in the sky or out into space means the involvement of the United States Air Force. Yep, the same shitheels who poisoned Oscoda with PFAS, left and then spent 20 years giving Oscoda the middle finger over cleanup. If this thing flies, they'll smugly be back. Johnny suggested to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel last night on Twitter we somehow ban the Air Force involvement until they get off their dead-asses and cleanup what they created. Why give them a second chance to destroy Oscoda? If you enjoy irony you'll love this; These new players in town, the ones with the full time jobs are NOT going to live in The Villages of Oscoda housing. Some part-time jobs may rent there but nobody's coming in to work on Spaceport and buying in the Villages. Know how Johnny knows? He's seen it before. The new people will want grand new updated housing to make everything seem grander and a developer will, in all likelihood, be granted yet more tax abatements (Remember Oscoda, you pay for this Spaceport on EVERY level) to build apartments or condos. OF COURSE there's more than enough housing already for everyone who could be involved in this endeavor, but when developers sense tax breaks are being given out, well, you just watch. The irony? Some workers from the Air Force will avoid living near Van Etten Lake, despite the available properties going cheap, because the Air Force poisoned Van Etten Lake. Billy, have you ever heard a rocket engine firing up?
Those of us who live close enough to Wurtsmith know the huge sound put out when they test the jet engines. Now, imagine what you'll hear with the testing of rocket engines (Seeing as how this is a Spaceport and it's about launching things we'll just assume rockets WILL be tested on-site.) Do you work odd hours? Do you have kids who need naps? Quietly hunting or hiking in the woods? Hard cheese because SPACEPORT!
(Push play Oscoda, just don't have your volume way up)
Now is the time, the only time
If none of this sounds like a good idea, or maybe if some of it sounds like a good idea, NOW is the time and really only time to contact elected officials. You can probably skip the Oscoda Township officers, they're already down with this, more than likely without asking any of the questions this article asks. Send them a note or make mention at township meetings but Johnny thinks local and county boards at this point are a done deal because they all saw a shiny new thing. Crows do that too. The place you'll have to lobby is the State of Michigan. Whitmer, Nessel and anyone else you think might be of assistance. If it's not dealt with now, it never will be.
Johnny knows, he's seen this kind of thing before. It's not about the residents, it never is.
With 2019 ringing in a different party in charge of regulating all things natural resources as Democrats took over in Washington D.C. and Michigan elected an entire top line of Democrats, things have changed and mostly for the better so far on the PFAS problem being confronted by Oscoda and elsewhere in Michigan and the USA.
First off, Senator Gary Peters has had some back and forth with the Air Force on the immediate issue of Oscoda water and he had the poking-stick out:
“Yet the Air Force has opted to claim sovereign immunity from state environmental quality regulations and water resources protection laws,” he went on. “As you know, Congress has waived sovereign immunity for purposes of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, The Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act,” he wrote.
Sovereign immunity is really the only defense the Air Force is using to delay and deny more money for a clean up. If they have lost that as Peters says, good for Oscoda.
The United States Senate is looking to classify PFAS as 'hazardous substances' which could well mean more cleanup funds for Michigan and none too soon:
“The hazardous substance designation has been discussed for decades,” said Arnie Leriche of Need Our Water (NOW) in Oscoda and a member of the National PFAS Contamination Coalition, after the plan was unveiled. In Michigan, at least 1.5 million Michigan residents are drinking water with some PFAS, the state determined with a year-long testing effort of municipal systems and schools. The city of Parchment’s system was shut down and a school in Grand Haven had to turn to bottle water after high test results. Ongoing testing will be required from 35 municipal systems, 19 schools and 8 daycares as the state considers the safety levels of the contaminants.
At a strictly Michigan level, new Department Environmental Quality Director Liesl Eichler Clark answered questions from both sides of the aisle recently and yes, PFAS and other similar chemicals did come up:
Clark also faced questions from lawmakers on things like energy, agriculture, redeveloping brownfield sites and pollution monitoring and harmful water contaminants like per- and poly-fluorinated compounds. “We’ve heard from EPA that they plan to move forward, but maybe not as fast as I think many folks were interested, particularly from a Michigan perspective,” she told Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, who asked how the department could regulate something that isn’t well-defined yet.
So, here we stand currently, kind of a take on our old News Roundups in Jersey City. Things would seem to be moving in a more positive direction but much work remains.
Johnny has been mighty impressed by how much ownership locals have taken on this issue. They have educated themselves and organized.
Near as Johnny can tell, Oscoda was a lumber town. Then it was an Air Force town. Now, going forward it will have to show off it's greatest resource to make it a bigger tourist town unless Amazon has some deal with the township we don't know about yet. Clean water is where all the natural beauty begins. Oscoda will rely on it now more than ever. We can't do it if hunters can't hunt deer in half the area or eat a lot of the local fish in the Au Sable River. Johnny will now join those who have already joined the battle.
Congressman Dan Kildee, a champion of the Oscoda area when it comes to PFAS and their leeching into the water supply from the Air Force's use of the PFAS's at Wurtsmith AFB for decades, will have a local expert and someone really looking out for Oscoda at tonight's State of the Union speech, Cathy Wusterbarth. Locals who educate themselves on the issues of the day and work so hard for their communities are so vital to a great place to live. Johnny is ecstatic than Ms. Wusterbarth has been invited. Her experiences can only help out the Oscoda area going forward.
Keep up the good work and keep after the Air Force and thanks for trying to make the community a better place to live and visit.
