The cost of cleaning up toxic “forever chemicals” at current and former military sites across the nation is rising by billions of dollars and environmental advocates say it could take the Pentagon decades to clean up the contamination because its remediation budget isn’t keeping pace.
The chemicals, known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), are linked to a variety of grave health impacts, including cancer and reproductive issues, even at minute exposure levels.
Among their many industrial uses, PFAS were prevalent in fire suppressant foam used by the military for decades, including in training exercises and on airfield runways. They have since been detected in ground or drinking water at hundreds of installations, including some in Georgia.
The Pentagon has boosted the estimated cost of PFAS cleanup by about $3.7 billion to at least $31 billion since 2016, and the list of known contaminated sites is growing. But its budget to address environmental restoration across all branches of the military has only increased by about $400 million over the same period, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group, which is calling for more funding.
The push for more money to clean up PFAS comes as the federal government is weighing stricter regulations for the family of chemicals, which could increase the costs. At the same time, congressional fighting over the the debt ceiling is bringing scrutiny to government spending.
John Reeder, EWG vice president for federal affairs, argued in a press briefing Monday that the cost of not moving aggressively to confront the problem would be greater in the long run.
“Slower is also more expensive,” said Reeder. “Not only do you prolong potential exposure when these cleanups are delayed, but PFAS spreads ... so time is definitely not on our side.”
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Using government data, EWG has identified more than a dozen military sites in Georgia with known or suspected PFAS contamination, including Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County, Robins Air Force Base in Houston County and Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County.
In 2019, the Air Force told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that drinking water was safe for the thousands of people living on and around its installations in Georgia, despite widespread groundwater contamination. Experts and neighboring residents questioned those assertions, claiming the military’s review was too narrow and failed to test any water off-base.
The Air Force also said it was not obligated to address contaminated groundwater due to a lack of federal standards for PFAS.
That is likely to change soon if it hasn’t already, said Chris Bowers, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. Since 2021, the Biden administration has released a slew of directives and proposed rule changes governing how PFAS is treated, including more stringent standards for drinking water and waste disposal.
He said the technology exists to remove PFAS from contaminated water, pointing to the pump-and-treat process adopted by DuPont spinoff Chemours after a judge ordered the company to reduce by 99 percent the amount of PFAS entering the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
Bowers described the technology as “basically an industrial-scale Brita filter.”
He said the military needs to “do good for our men and women in the Armed Services… and get ahead of these regulations.”
The Department of Defense has conducted or is conducting evaluations of the following installations in Georgia for PFAS contamination:
Confirmed PFAS contamination:
Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County
Air Force Plant 6 in Cobb County
Robins Air Force Base in Houston County
Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County
Savannah International Airport
Fort Gordon near Augusta
Suspected PFAS contamination:
Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Camden County
Georgia Garrison Training Center in Fort Stewart
Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah
Fort Stewart in Liberty County
Fort Moore (Formerly Fort Benning) near Columbus
Camp Merrill in Dahlonega
Albany Georgia Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany
Fort Gordon Gillem Annex
Fort McPherson in Fulton County
General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center in Cobb County
Winder Barrow County Airport
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