Defense Bill Has PFAS Cleanup Money: Report

The defense budget currently moving through Congress includes more than $120 million for cleanup and phaseout of toxic chemicals used at former and current military bases, including those in Montgomery County.

The Intelligencer reports that this year's National Defense Authorization Act, which advanced from the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, includes $121.3 million for cleanup and remediation of PFAS.

The bill also calls for ending the use of firefighting foam that contains perfluorinated chemicals.

PFAS were used at three military installations in MontCo and at more than 100 other installations across the United States.

PFAS has become a national priority in recent years.

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will begin setting limits this year on the manmade chemicals, found widely in soil and water, that are linked to cancer and other illnesses. Former EPA head Scott Pruitt had promised last year to address the chemicals, called PFAS (Polyfluoroalkyl Substances).

The Intelligencer reports that PFAS chemicals were discovered several years ago at nationally high levels in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington — the result of the firefighting foams used at the former Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove in Horsham, the Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster and the Horsham Air Guard Base.

Municipalities have been forced to shut down hundreds of wells as a result, the paper reported.

The House legislation provides funds for cleanup and requires the Department of Defense to conduct a study on the best ways to clean PFAS-contaminated groundwater. The use of a firefighting foam containing PFAS must be phased out by 2029, under the bill.

Another provision would require the Department of Defense to perform blood tests on military and civilian firefighters who were potentially exposed to the chemical, the Intelligencer reports.

To read the original report in The Intelligencer, click here.