[EWG News] Decades Later, Plumes of ‘Forever Chemicals’ from Defense Installations Still Contaminate Nearby Wells

By Jared Hayes | EWG | December 7, 2021

Read the full article by Jared Hayes (EWG)

“Decades after polluting their well water, the Defense Department is still providing water filters and bottled water to at least 47 communities it contaminated with the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, highlighting the need for Congress to swiftly fund PFAS cleanup at DOD bases.

The well water of these communities contains dangerous levels of harmful PFAS that can be traced to pollution from DOD bases. These findings are based on EWG’s analysis of records from DOD, the independent federal Government Accountability Office watchdog, and state agencies. The communities range in size from a few households to thousands of residents.

Homes in at least 33 of these communities still rely on DOD-supplied bottled water in lieu of safe tap water. Households in at least nine communities that relied on private well water had to be connected to municipal water sources. Because of the contamination, their wells could no longer be used.

Other communities also had to be provided with household water filters, or their municipal water supplier had to install new filter technology to protect the community.

DOD is providing bottled water and water filters only in communities where the drinking water exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime health advisory of 70 parts per trillion, or ppt.

In the absence of a federal PFAS drinking water standard, states have started to set their own legal limits for certain types of the chemicals. New Jersey was the first to set to a maximum contaminant limit for the compound PFNA, at 13 ppt, and has proposed standards of 13 ppt for PFOS and 14 ppt for PFOA.

Some other states have now set or proposed limits or guidelines for various PFAS in drinking water, including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and Vermont.”…

This content provided by the PFAS Project.