The US Air Force Identifies PFAS Chemicals From Firefighting Foam Contaminated Several Military Water Supplies

Water Contamination Lawsuit News

The Air Force started using firefighting foam that is now believed to be carcinogenic more than five decades ago

Monday, September 12, 2022 - Firefighting foam made with aqueous film forming foam contains toxic, carcinogenic PFAS forever chemicals that can cause cancer and other diseases. The foam has been used extensively for decades on military bases throughout the United States. Hundreds of military bases including many containing airports use firefighting foam to extinguish petroleum and jet fuel fires. Local officials of surrounding communities are concerned the base has destroyed the local municipal water supply by washing firefighting foam down into the ground or local storm drains. A good example is the concern that residents of the communities surrounding the military base in Bangor, Maine have. There, local officials are worried for the health of their residents that may have been poisoned by PFAS drinking water in their home's tap water. According to Bangor Daily News, "The Maine Air National Guard's base of operations at Bangor International Airport sits atop groundwater tainted with high levels of toxic, so-called forever chemicals that leached into it from decades of the guard using firefighting foam on the property." It is more probable than not that hundreds of other communities have been affected like Bangor. Local residents around the country have reported elevated incidences of testicular cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer, as well as reproductive problems, weakened childhood immunity, low birthweight babies, endocrine disruption, elevated cholesterol, and weight gain according to sources. The Department of Defense has admitted that they have discovered about 400 sites on military bases in the US that have water contaminated with PFAS forever chemicals from the improper disposal of firefighting foam. Armed with this information and a cancer diagnosis, people are filing PFAS cancer lawsuits against 3M and other manufacturers of the deadly firefighting foam. The lawsuits seek reimbursement for the loss of income, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other relevant damages that the company's negligence, recklessness, and carelessness have caused.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is assisting the military to assess and evaluate the extent of the PFAS forever chemicals groundwater contamination problem, the enormity of which can not be overstated. Firefighting foam has been used to "clean up fuel spills, for regular firefighter training and for routine testing of the base's emergency systems," According to Bangor News and PFAS levels have been recorded hundreds of times greater than the EPA's standards on each of the nine locations tested in 2018. In the Bangor water contamination situation and others, officials fear that the military's negligence may have also affected local private water wells in the surrounding area also, exposing potentially millions of residents to toxic drinking water. The source of finding out about the chemicals that contaminate the local Bangor Air Force Base from firefighting foam originated from an article recently published by the Air Force where the Department of Defense "identified certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as emerging contaminants of concern which affected installations across the Air Force."

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