How Military Pollution Could Cause The Next Water Crisis

The United States military's use of a firefighting foam, with the intention to save lives, could turn out to have dire consequences for those who handled it and people who live nearby. PFAS, short for per- or poly-fluoroalkyl substances, have seeped into the groundwater and at times spread into drinking water by way of firefighting foam runoff. Now, communities across the country are wondering what PFAS-contaminated water means for their health, their homes and who's responsible to clean it all up.

The Department of Defense had identified 401 military sites that could be contaminated with the toxic compounds, known as PFAS, as of August 2017. The Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University have mapped at least 712 documented cases of PFAS contamination across 49 states, as of July 2019. That map includes contamination on military bases along with industrial plants, commercial airports and firefighting training sites.

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are found at high levels in a concentrate for a firefighting foam called AFFF, or aqueous film forming foam, which has seeped into groundwater and at times tainted drinking water. The Environmental Working Group estimates more than 100 million Americans could be drinking tap water contaminated with PFAS.

Dubbed “the forever chemical,” PFAS don’t naturally break down in the environment, which explains why some water sources are still contaminated from AFFF use decades ago.

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How Military Pollution Could Cause The Next US Water Crisis

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