The John McCain National Defense Authorization Act that President Trump will travel to Fort Drum to sign Monday is without a PFOS and PFOA cleanup provision. It’s a provision that was pushed by two U.S. Senators from New York, including Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
It’s a provision that would have authorized the cleanup and disposal of PFOS and PFOA that have contaminated National Guard bases across the country, including Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburgh. Here’s Schumer:
“The funny thing is we’ve gotten the money to clean them up with the Department of Defense’s okay. I talked directly to General Mattis, Secretary of Defense Mattis. But it has to be what’s called authorized. In other words, a law has to allow them to use this money to clean it up,” says Schumer. “Some of these folks knocked it out of the defense bill, but now we have an opportunity in the, what’s called the appropriations bill to add it, and I’m going to try to add it, and hopefully it’ll be done by October 1.”
