No, FEMA hasn’t sent 300 semitrucks to Michigan’s Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport

A viral video claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending hundreds of trucks to a Michigan airport as part of a government plot to extract fertilizer minerals from the area.

"FEMA has decided to bring 300 semi trucks to the airport in Oscoda county to set up a site if the surrounding counties are in need," a man in a Nov. 12 Facebook video said.

The trailers would be stationed at the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport ahead of an impending rainstorm, he said. In a separate Nov. 13 video, the speaker repeated the claims and said FEMA sent trucks  because of a "massive rainstorm" projected in an area with large deposits of potash, potassium-bearing minerals used primarily in fertilizer.

"It is crazy because you need a lot of water to extract this stuff that is worth billions and billions of dollars. And Michigan is about to get it," he said in the video, which was shared on TikTok and reposted on Facebook by a different account. We saw similar claims on YouTube.

The Facebook videos were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads and Instagram.)

But FEMA has not sent 300 trucks to the Oscoda-Wurtsmith airport as the video claims.

FEMA Press Secretary Daniel Llargues told PolitiFact in an emailed statement the agency has not sent vehicles to the airport.

"There is no plan to use the Wurtsmith location in Michigan to stage commodities at this time. We do not have trailers there and none are being transported to the location," he said.

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FEMA officials told local media it had visited the airport, which was once used as a U.S. Air Force base, in September to assess its viability as a place to store materials during natural disasters. Four other locations were also assessed, but the agency has not yet chosen one.

Misinformation about FEMA and the airport began after a town supervisor, Bill Palmer, said at a town meeting the agency was bringing 350 semitrailers to the site. Palmer later said he had misspoken: "I should have specifically said FEMA is considering Wurtsmith and I didn't," he told local news channel WJRT.

The area is rich in potash and some companies are trying to extract it. But that is not a recent revelation and it doesn’t involve the federal agency.

"FEMA does not have a role in mineral extraction," Llargues said.

FEMA works with local and state officials to aid residents during disasters, including storms and floods, which hit Michigan, as they hit many parts of the country. Having a site to store materials so that they can be quickly distributed in the event of a disaster does not signal nefarious intent.

"FEMA routinely assesses the viability of sites across the country that may be used in future disasters," Llargues told PolitiFact.

We have reported about the history of FEMA conspiracy theories and the recent rise in misleading statements following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

We rate the claim that FEMA sent 300 trucks to Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport False.