Several groundwater wells on Fairchild Air Force Base are undergoing testing for chemicals.
In an April 3 news release, Fairchild Public Affairs announced that in February, engineers contracted by the U.S. Air Force, found five non-drinking groundwater wells on the base that tested above Environmental Protection Agency lifetime health advisory levels for Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and/or Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination. The release also stated that Fairchild’s public drinking water system was sampled and all results were “non-detect” or below EPA’s health advisory levels.
One of the wells is located at a former firefighting training site near the Fairchild’s eastern border. Marc Connally, Fairchild’s Air Force Civil Engineer Center on-site remedial project manager said the reason the former training site was sampled was because it was close to Fairchild’s eastern boundary. Sampling at the other wells will begin the second week of May.
Connally added that all five sites are resource protection wells, which are used only to sample groundwater as part of the site inspection and other remedial efforts. The wells are only used for this purpose per the Washington Administrative Code.
PFAS/PFOAs are classified by the EPA as “emerging contaminants” and are found in household items, as well as heat and fire-resistant products including an aqueous film forming foam, which was used by the Air Force for firefighting training purposes from 1970 to 2016.
The EPA issued updated PFOS/PFOA lifetime health advisory levels in May 2016. Beginning in 2011, the Air Force started using foam with a different compound.
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center has been conducting proactive and comprehensive assessments at a variety of active and closed bases to determine if PFOS and PFOA pose a risk to drinking water. Fairchild was identified as one of the sampling sites where the foam was used for fire training, equipment testing and emergency response incidents.
The former firefighting training area at Fairchild was used 2-3 times per month from the early 1960s to 1991.
As part of the Air Force’s three step approach – identify, respond, prevent – the well testing has prompted Fairchild to proactive notification for testing 25 residential wells on 22 residential sites near the base’s border. Connally said Air Force engineers have taken samples from 22 wells on 20 sites.
“Two of the wells are no longer active. In both cases it was the residents’ choice to turn off those wells and have an alternate water source,” Connally said. “The owner of the remaining well has not gotten back to us and we hope within the next month they will respond. If we have their approval we will sample at the next opportunity.”
The analytical results are expected back within 45 days. Connally said the possibility of additional off-base sampling will be considered after the results from the residential wells have been evaluated. As soon as Fairchild receives the data, base personnel will inform the residents.
The hired contractor team and a third party outside of the Air Force will verify the results and provide Fairchild personnel with the data for the final report. Any wells that yield above health advisory levels, Fairchild staff will immediately provide bottled water to residents as a short term solution. The Air Force will explore long term solutions for those residents.
“There are a variety of approaches, most likely we’ll install a treatment system at the well, the chemical can be removed by the filtration process,” Connally said.
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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