Senator Murray Urges DOD to Redouble Efforts to Address PFAS at Military Bases and Surrounding Communities
ICYMI: Senator Murray applauds first-ever national standard on PFAS pollution in drinking water, announces $17.3 million in new funding for Washington state to address PFAS
Letter urges DOD to meet EPA standards for PFAS levels in drinking water amid reports of severe contamination on and near military installations
Washington DC – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Brent Owens, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, concerning unsafe drinking water on military bases and surrounding communities. The letter calls for the Department to take further steps in lowering the dangerous amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found on current and former military installations across the country, including several sites in Washington state—a longstanding priority for Senator Murray.
“The Department of Defense has a responsibility to protect the places where it conducts its operations and surrounding communities, especially when it negatively impacts natural resources as crucial as drinking water,” Senator Murray wrote. “I appreciate the Department’s defense-wide approach to addressing this issue through ongoing PFAS testing and remediation efforts, including providing filters and bottled drinking water to affected communities. It is clear, however, that the Department remains far from resolving this serious public health threat.”
Murray acknowledged that while the Department has worked to identify PFAS contamination sites, further action must be taken to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) groundwater standards. In the Fiscal Year 2024 defense funding bill Senator Murray secured $473.6 million for PFAS and AFF clean up and remediation. She additionally secured $489.2 million in Fiscal Year 2024’s Military Construction funding bill for PFAS-related clean up activities at former installations. In her letter, Murray urged the DOD to use this funding to meet new EPA standards of less than four parts per trillion (ppt) of PFAS in drinking water sources. Groundwater in Airway Heights, Washington contained 1,400 to 1,5000 ppt of PFAS in 2017 while a home near the Yakima Training Center reported PFAS levels of over 800 ppt in 2021.
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Dear Assistant Secretary Owens:
I am writing to you regarding the contamination of groundwater sources with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) near current and former military installations across the United States, including several in my home state of Washington. The Department of Defense has a responsibility to protect the places where it conducts its operations and surrounding communities, especially when it negatively impacts natural resources as crucial as drinking water. I appreciate the Department’s defense-wide approach to addressing this issue through ongoing PFAS testing and remediation efforts, including providing filters and bottled drinking water to affected communities. It is clear, however, that the Department remains far from resolving this serious public health threat.
As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to providing funding for remediation and cleanup of PFAS-contaminated areas. In the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill, I provided $473.6 million for PFAS and AFFF clean up and remediation—an additional $151.6 million over the President’s budget request of $322 million. Additionally, in the Fiscal Year 2024 Military Construction Appropriations bill, I included $489.2 million for the Department’s Base Closure Account, an increase of $50 million above the budget request specifically to support PFAS-related activities at former installations. I am proud to see that the Department is utilizing this funding to identify installations with PFAS contamination and take the necessary steps to restore clean drinking water to military communities.
While identifying PFAS contamination is good progress, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new drinking water standards for PFAS so our servicemembers, their families, and their communities have access to clean drinking water. I applaud the Department for prioritizing the cleanup of thousands of contaminated private drinking water wells affected by military activities across the country. I understand the Department is initially targeting wells with PFAS levels above 12 parts per trillion (ppt).
In Washington state, I hope to see these actions make a difference on the ground. In 2017, the town of Airway Heights, located near Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB), was found to have groundwater containing 1400 to 1520 ppt of PFAS. These levels were so dangerous that it forced the community to abandon existing drinking water wells and instead divert water from the City of Spokane’s drinking water system.[1] Seven years later, some households still depend on bottled water from the Air Force. In addition, a recent survey of the northeast West Plains—including parts of Spokane—near Fairchild AFB found that more than 236 wells (57 percent of those surveyed) contain PFAS levels above the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level of four ppt.[2]
Military activities at Yakima Training Center and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island have also resulted in PFAS contamination of groundwater supplies, impacting communities near both. Yakima Training Center is continuously testing surrounding areas for PFAS and in 2021, the Army found that 62 wells providing water to 87 homes in the area far exceed the EPA’s limits for PFAS. One home’s water was found to contain PFAS levels over 800 ppt.[3] Naval Air Station Whidbey Island began sampling wells in 2016—of the 291 wells tested, samples collected from 18 drinking wells contained PFAS levels over 70 ppt.[4]
As the Department moves forward with its PFAS cleanup efforts, it is critical that the ultimate goal is to ensure that all impacted drinking water sources meet EPA’s more stringent standard of less than four ppt of PFAS. In practice, this means that after the Department addresses the most seriously affected wells, it must turn its attention to remaining wells below 12 ppt. While I recognize that this will be a challenge, the Department must be thorough in its commitment to restoring clean drinking water to all communities affected by military activities, not just those dealing with the worst PFAS contamination.
PFAS is a long-term issue that won’t be solved in a single fiscal year. As the Department works to reduce PFAS exposure, consistent communication with Congress is vital to secure the resources the Department needs to restore safe drinking water to impacted communities.
In order to ensure attention to the concerns outlined above, I request a detailed description on the actions the Department is taking to address PFAS contamination of groundwater in Washington. Please provide written answers to the following questions:
- What progress has the Department made in addressing PFAS contamination in drinking water at current and former installations in Washington, including in the communities surrounding Fairchild AFB, Yakima Training Center, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, and Camp Bonneville?
- Are any of these installations currently using any technologies, products, or processes that are actively contributing to groundwater PFAS contamination? If so, what are they? When do you expect them to be phased out?
- How is the Department coordinating with other federal and state agencies to conduct PFAS mitigation and remediation?
- What community outreach has the Department conducted in coordination with the military services about its next steps to come into compliance with EPA’s new drinking water standard?
I remain committed to supporting our servicemembers, their families, and their communities who rely on drinking water in close proximity to military bases. Please direct communications regarding this letter to Olivia Elkins (Olivia_Elkins@murray.senate.gov). Thank you again for your time and attention to this important matter.
Atentamente,
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[1]https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/14/not-just-on-the-west-plains-new-epa-standards-plac/
[2]https://ecology.wa.gov/spills-cleanup/contamination-cleanup/cleanup-sites/west-plains-pfas
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