MYSTERY: FEMA staging 350 semi-trailers at decommissioned Air Force base in Oscoda
Reports have surfaced of Federal Emergency Management Agency staging trucks across north central Michigan, including at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, sparking speculation and fears about the agency’s doings and prompting elected representatives to seek clarification from FEMA officials.
In the wake of the concerns, FEMA and Oscoda officials finally issued statements saying the site was merely being considered for material staging, according to independent reporter Dave Bondy.
According to the Iosco News last week, “the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) will station a hub for emergency services. Three hundred and fifty semi-trailers with equipment to serve a six-county region will be stored at the airport.”
The staging was reportedly to serve Macomb, Kent, Ionia, Eaton, Ingham, and Livingston counties.
Elected officials were kept in the dark: Michigan Rep. Mike Hoadley said today he was waiting for clarification from FEMA on behalf of constituents concerning the site’s and the agency’s activities.
While the staging was reported to have been under way, the site’s purposes had been a mystery, leading to forgivable speculation and worries among residents amidst the agency’s failures in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
It came to light this weekend the failed agency, under the auspices of disgraced Department of Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas, intentionally withheld aid in hurricane-affected areas on political grounds.
An agency official was fired after it was revealed she directed workers in an official memo to withhold support from households with pro-Donald Trump paraphernalia displayed.
The agency had already come under fire over diverting funding to illegal immigrants under its Shelter and Services Program (SSP), spending nearly $1 billion on the initiative. Legislation was introduced days after Helene hit in October to cut off funding for the program.
Notably, the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a Superfund site. It closed in 1993, and an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry report says hazardous materials were released at the base and that those substances had “migrated” beyond the base’s boundaries.
The contaminant in question is trichloroethylene (TCE), a solvent that produces other chemicals. The report details the debate about whether TCE could have been responsible for cancer or causing miscarriages near contaminated sites.
MORE NEWS: REVENGE? Sparta Township threatens JD Vance rally host over alleged permit violations
The agency said contaminants were in local waterways and could pose health risks, though those were believed to have been contained through land-use restrictions. TCE contamination has been found at Nike Missile sites, though known Nikes stored in Michigan were limited to the Detroit area. However, the Air Force did have nuclear assets at Wurtsmith during the Cold War.
As for the FEMA operation, the staging may have been storage of materials acquired under FEMA grants to local emergency management officials.
But the agency’s politicization by its doings and failure in Helene-devastated western North Carolina understandably led to speculation and fears about the staging’s purposes.
The agency’s lack of transparency in Michigan might do little to rehabilitate its image.
https://www.themidwesterner.news/2024/11/mystery-fema-staging-350-semi-trailers-at-decommissioned-air-force-base-in-oscoda/