contamination

Two wells bordering the base’s southern edge have been found to have potentially harmful levels of PFAS from firefighting foams used on the base. Chemical studies show that this “forever chemical” can have harmful impacts on health, from cancer to immune and endocrine system deficiencies and more.

Providing drinking water under the EPA’s 70 part per trillion (ppt) advisory still allows for people to consume dangerous levels of the toxins, considering that the nation’s top public health officials say 1 ppt in drinking water is likely to be dangerous.

Moffett Naval Air Station in California is a 1,500-acre site located in Moffett Field, California. Moffett Field is located 35 miles south of San Francisco and approximately 1 mile south of San Francisco Bay in Santa Clara County, California. It was purchased in 1931 for one dollar, according to records, and was commissioned in 1933 as a naval air station to support a “lighter-than-air” (LTA) program (“Moffett Federal Airfield” – GlobalSecurity.org 2012). In 1991, Moffett Field was recommended for closure under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.  

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The Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland has continued to expand, contributing to rapid population growth in the surrounding area. There are approximately 17,500 military, civilian, contractors and nonappropriated fund personnel that work at the Naval Air Station on a normal day. But with expansion comes higher scrutiny on environmental impacts, and Patuxent River NAS has definitely made an impact.

The military is engaged in a campaign to convince the public that the PFAS contamination it has caused on military bases around the world is being cleaned up and that it is safeguarding public health by complying with the EPA’s lifetime health advisory of 70 parts per trillion in drinking water. For the most part, both claims are false.

PFAS, or per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances, are extraordinarily toxic, bio accumulative, and they never break down in nature. The chemicals are linked to a host of cancers and they threaten the unborn fetus in the tiniest amounts. They are extremely dangerous.

The Department of Defense through the Defense Logistics Agency, (DLA) is rushing to incinerate its remaining supplies of fire-fighting foam and associated bulk materials containing highly fluorinated, toxic PFOS & PFOA chemicals. Incineration is incapable of completely breaking down the substances. Scientists argue the practice is “raining down a witch’s brew” of poisonous substances that are linked to a host of cancers.

On July 10, 2018 Michigan’s MLive Media Group reported that a U.S. Coast Guard maintenance hangar at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Mount Clemons, Michigan experienced an “inadvertent discharge of about 20 gallons of AFFF foam” on June 7. AFFF is aqueous film-forming foam that contains toxic chemicals containing a variety of per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They are used in fire-fighting foams.

Past activities at McGuire AFB in support of operational missions created a number of waste sources of potential environmental concern. Site investigations and long-term cleanup are ongoing.