Lawmakers Urge Navy To Address Water Contamination In Willow Grove

HORSHAM, PA — Two local lawmakers are urging the U.S. Department of the Navy to address possible health risks associated with groundwater contamination from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove.

Reps. Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) and Bernie O’Neill (R-Bucks) issued a formal request on Wednesday for the Navy to fund an independent health risk assessment study to analyze the situation and the safety of Horsham and Warminster residents.

The chemicals found on the base were perfluorinated compounds, including perfluorooctane sulfonoate (PFOS) and perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA). It is believed many of the chemicals originally came from firefighting training on the base property, although the government's investigative teams are not sure on that point, Stephens said.

The Horsham Safe Water Coalition, a community organization that lobbied for the election of candidates last fall that they thought would best address water safety, says that PFOA and PFOS may cause cancer. They cite studies from the American Cancer Society that indicate the long-term damage these chemicals do to both humans and the environment.

The studies show that workplace exposure to PFOA has been linked to an increase in testicular, bladder, and kidney cancer.

The Coalition, citing an Environmental Impact Statement issued by the EPA, said that the water is progressing through the soil and could contaminate humans and the environment in other ways than just drinking water.

Stephens says the questions which the Navy needs to answer are: is our health at risk from past exposure? If so, what is the risk to our health? And what can we do to protect our families and minimize any long-term effect of exposure to these compounds?

"To date, no one has a solution on how to stop this," said Coalition member Tom Orlando, in an email to Patch.

He alleges that the contamination, although made public recently, has been known in government circles for some time.

"The (Horsham council had the opportunity over the years to obtain grants and financial resources at no cost to the taxpayer to monitor the water, and did not," Orlando added.

Stephens was quick to reiterate, as he did last October, that the water is safe to drink, but noted that there could be other side effects.

The Horsham Water and Sewer Authority has taken the affected wells offline, he said.

“Our families deserve answers,” Stephens said. “I urge the Navy to address this as quickly as possible.”

>>DOCUMENT: U.S. Geological Survey Hydrogeological Investigation of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove