04 May DoD: Contaminated Water Reported at Over 126 Military Bases

A Department of Defense (DoD) study was recently released that uncovered water contaminants at about 126 military bases.

Found at these installations were harmful levels of perfluorinated compounds. The Pentagon notes that this specific contaminant has been linked to developmental delays for fetuses and infants, cancer, and other health issues.

The contamination data, was first publicly listed in March during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. The report contains an exhaustive list of all affected bases.

Military Times reported, “The Defense Department identified 401 active and Base Closure and Realignment installations in the United States with at least one area where there was a known or suspected release of perfluorinated compounds.”

“These included 36 sites with drinking water contamination on-base, and more than 90 sites that reported either on-base or off-base drinking water or groundwater contamination, in which the water source tested above the Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptable levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate or perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOS and PFOAs.”

The most common source of these compounds is from aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which is used to put out petroleum-based fires at Military installations.

Maureen Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment, safety and occupational health, has addressed the safety procedures that have been put in place. The first step was to provide those living on and around the contaminated bases with bottled water and water filters. As time goes on, the Centers for Disease Control will continue to study exposure and its long-term effects.

The cleanup and correction of this contamination doesn’t come cheap. Military Times reports that, “DoD has already spent $200 million studying and testing its water supply, and also providing either filters, alternate wells or bottled water to address contamination.”

Sullivan estimates that the groundwater cleanup alone will “add about $2 billion to the $27 billion previously identified cleanup projects for which the department is responsible.”

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