Pentagon warns that number of military bases with contaminated water likely to rise
By: Tara Copp - Impact-2020 - 11-20-19
RE:
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nat...237592799.html
WASHINGTON
The number of military installations contaminated by firefighting foam is likely to rise in a soon-to-be-released report, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
In 2018, the Pentagon reported that 401 sites, including wells, on-base drinking sources and groundwater, at its military bases and communities worldwide had tested positive for higher than allowable levels of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, commonly known as PFAS. The compounds are concentrated in the Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) that the military has sprayed on aircraft fires since the 1970s.
The compounds in the military firefighting foam have been linked to cancers and birth defects. Over decades of use at military bases, the foam has seeped into groundwater and drinking water sources.
Since the release of the original list of 401 sites in the 2018 report, communities near military bases across the U.S. have demanded that DOD fix the water contamination. Some states, such as New Mexico, have also filed lawsuits to force a faster cleanup or compensation.
Contaminated water sources on military bases
In 2018 the Pentagon released its first assessment of the levels of PFAS in its water systems. PFAS is a chemical compound that has been used in military and commercial airport fire-fighting foam for decades; it has been linked to cancers and birth defects. On Monday, Northeastern University and the Environmental Working Group combined this data with public water utility reports to provide the most comprehensive look to date at the extent of PFAS contamination, to include hundreds of communities across the U.S. Based on the research, more than 610 locations in 43 states, impacting 19 million people. The list below is just the military base data, which is searchable by state, military base, service and the extent of contamination.
Read this attached report:
https://partner-mco-archive.s3.amazo...1524589484.pdf
(listing bases in trouble)
Based on further testing, that 401 number is likely to go higher, Robert McMahon, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment said Wednesday.
“We think there’s probably more installations than that,” McMahon said. “We found that we undercounted within some of the [National] Guard sites.”
“I think what you will see out of the report is a revised number above 401,” McMahon said.
The upcoming report was directed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper in July. It is expected to address the status of cleanup, which the Pentagon has previously reported will top $2 billion, and how best to move forward with getting health care for those affected by the contaminated water.
PFAS is just one of many types of potential “toxic exposures” linked to an increased number of cancers among veterans that military families are now pressing the Pentagon and VA to more directly address, and find ways to make it easier for affected service members or their families to get care for.
In October, McClatchy reported in an exclusive investigation that the rate of urinary cancers treatments provided by the VA since fiscal year 2000 had increased 61 percent, prostate cancer treatments had increased 23 percent, liver and pancreatic cancer treatments had increased 96 percent and blood cancer treatments had increased 18 percent.
Esper is expected to receive a draft of the report before Thanksgiving, with a final report to be distributed to the public in late December or early January.
McMahon said the report will also likely conclude that so far, the military also still has not found a suitable substitute for AFFF to put out military aircraft fires.
While the military has put in place a substitute foam with lower concentrations of the PFAS compounds for training purposes, it is still using the original AFFF to put out actual aircraft fires, McMahon said.
In a meeting with reporters, McMahon lifted up a small jar of one of the substitute foams that had been developed. It was a viscous, amber-colored gel that did not pour quickly to the mouth of the jar when it was tipped upside-down.
That would be unacceptable in an actual fire, where the slow moving gel would not be quick enough to put out a fire on a ship, for example, McMahon said.
So far, DOD has spent about $22 million researching a new foam.
The use of the foam has left many veterans wondering whether the cancers they or family members have faced are linked to firefighting foam.
About this writer: Tara Copp is the national military and veterans affairs correspondent for McClatchy. She has reported extensively through the Middle East, Asia and Europe to cover defense policy and its impact on the lives of service members. She was previously the Pentagon bureau chief for Military Times and a senior defense analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Another reports to read:
VA struggles to treat veterans due to shortage of cancer specialists
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nat...ylink=readnext
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Personal note: We've all know this for a long time and yet they still haven't addressed these issues. That's pretty piss pore if you ask me. There many more contaminates on military bases and we all know this. Washing the waste into the streams or ocean or even into local sewer systems can all return contaminate the waters we drink.
Boats