Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit group that protects government workers who support environmental activism, released the results of tests for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in private wells south of the Air Force Academy.
PFAS, a group of manmade chemicals that have served as ingredients in various materials (including firefighting foam once used for training purposes at military bases), have been linked to health problems such as cancer and low birth weights.
As part of an initial PFAS site inspection, an Air Force contractor first tested groundwater on the Air Force Academy for two PFAS: perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The results — which showed levels exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water health advisory limits — triggered testing of 40 private wells in the Woodmen Valley neighborhood.
Though the Environmental Protection Agency has only set health advisory limits for PFOS and PFOA, there are potentially thousands more PFAS about which little is known.
The results of the Woodmen Valley well tests, released by PEER, show that levels of two unregulated PFAS chemicals were present at more than 200 parts per trillion in two private wells. The EPA’s health advisory for PFOS and PFOA is 70 parts per trillion.”
