NORFOLK, Va. — Lawmakers are raising new concerns about private military housing in a letter to the Department of Defense, including the condition of housing for Army families as well as confusion over the process in which families can resolve disputes with landlords.
"We are concerned that as military families continue to experience exposure to lead, mold and other health risks for unsafe housing conditions, the private companies that provide on-base housing are disregarding their concerns," the letter signed by six senators states.
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Va. Sen. Tim Kaine is among those signing the letter. He's been following this issue for years.
"I was at the Norfolk Naval Base a couple of months ago, and I heard areas where there had been improvements, but I also heard areas where there'd been some significant challenges," said Kaine.
The report also addresses mold, which News 3 has reported extensivelyabout as an issue families have faced over the years.
Watch previous coverage: Senators question DoD on military housing NDAs
The report says a Navy spouse said all three of her kids had breathing problems due to mold.
News 3 asked whether there was hope the issue could ever be resolved or whether this was a systemic failure.
"The set of problems around military housing was a systemic failure and the failure was not so much the privatization. The failure was after undertaking a privatization effort in the 1990s, the military stopped supervising the providers," said Kaine.
Watch previous coverage: Gov. report claims some military barracks pose 'serious health & safety risks', sewage overflow & mold
He said he's hoping to get answers as he looks ahead to the next defense spending bill.
"We've seen some improvements, but we're not happy yet and that's the reason we wrote the letter," he said.
The lawmakers gave the Dept. of Defense until Jan. 2 to respond.
