VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a new call for the government to eliminate the use of compounds containing the toxic, so-called forever chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a new report issued this week states that 130 million Americans are at risk.
The document calls the situation a "crisis," and says conditions are "dire."
The Defense Department (DOD) uses a specific type of firefighting foam, known as "AFFF" in about 1,500 facilities and over 6,800 mobile assets worldwide to suppress fires; the foam is especially effective in putting out aircraft fires.
But it contains PFAS, which can get into nearby drinking wells and have adverse effects on human health, including harming fetal development, the thyroid, and the immune system, and may also cause liver damage and testicular, kidney, and thyroid cancers.
In 2023, the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that of the 100 military installations with the highest levels of PFAS in the groundwater, four are in Hampton Roads: Langley Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Oceana, Fort Eustis, and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress.
"We have seen a lot of progress being made towards the PFAS crisis, but we have a lot more work to go," said EWG Senior Policy analyst Jared Hayes.
In an interview Friday with 13News Now, Hayes said Congress needs to boost funding for cleanup.
"We're calling on Congress to up the funding for the Department of Defense, their cleanup programs, to make sure that that gets done in a timely manner so that we don't see more households become contaminated with the forever chemicals," he said.
The DOD's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request includes $1.6 billion for PFAS cleanup. However, EWG says the true cost for cleanup of contaminated sites is actually $38 billion.