Letter to Hartley, Department of Defense - PFOS Contamination at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base and Airport

Letter

Dear Mr. Hartley,

I write to express my deep concern about correspondence from the Department of Defense (DOD) that suggests an intent to foot-drag, delay or evade its commitment to respond to contamination near Gabreski Air National Guard (ANG) Base located in Westhampton Beach on Long Island's South Shore.

It has come to my attention that while Suffolk County and the National Guard Bureau were negotiating cooperative agreements to respond to the release of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) into private and public water supply wells, a moratorium was put in place so that the DOD can explore avenues to indemnify itself and its departments. A similar action involving cynical legal tactics to evade legal and financial responsibility was taken by DOD while negotiating with New York State towards the remediation of the area surrounding Stewart Air National Guard Base in New Windsor, New York and I was critical of DOD's actions in that instance as well.

DOD's previous actions at Stewart ANG Base and now current actions at Gabreski ANG Base represent a troubling pattern emerging from DOD regarding its intentions to seek indemnity for any possible liability related to the release of PFCs from Air National Guard related activities. Simply put, this is a completely unacceptable course of action for the DOD to pursue. The Air Force, National Guard Bureau, and DOD as a whole, must continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to develop and fund a remediation plan and reimburse municipalities for costs incurred that are related to the release and cleanup of the released contaminants. The brunt of these remediation costs cannot fall on local governments or taxpayers who did not cause this issue. I urge you to immediately intervene for the benefit of the impacted communities.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer

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