‘Forever chemicals’ are in thousands of private wells near military sites, a study finds
Health News Florida | By Patricia Kime - KFF Health News
Published November 29, 2023 at 8:40 AM EST
New research finds that private wells near more than 82% of select military sites were contaminated with PFAS chemicals. The study listed six in Florida below the threshold the Pentagon uses to trigger remediation.
Water tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with “forever chemicals” at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking.
According to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzed Department of Defense testing data, 2,805 wells spread across 29 states were contaminated with at least one of two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, above 4 parts per trillion, a limit proposed earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency. That new drinking water standard is expected to take effect by the end of the year.
But contamination in those wells was lower than the 70 parts per trillion threshold the Pentagon uses to trigger remediation.
EWG researchers said they did not know how many people rely on the wells for drinking, cooking, and bathing, but the 76 tested locations represent just a fraction of the private wells near 714 current or former military sites spread across the U.S.
https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2023-11-29/forever-chemicals-are-in-thousands-of-private-wells-near-military-sites-a-study-finds
