[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: Report on Willow Grove (PA)meeting

[Lenny Siegel]

Public needles military on chemical cleanup; state details blood testing

By Kyle Bagenstose 
Bucks County Courier Times (PA)
March 16, 2018 at 

At a quarterly environmental cleanup meeting for the former NASJRB Willow Grove, members of the public criticized the military’s speed in cleaning up the site, after it was revealed that unregulated PFAS was found in groundwater at 300,000 ppt. The state health department also updated residents on an upcoming blood test study.

Military officials said at a meeting Wednesday that they’ve found perfluorinated compounds — or PFAS — at levels up to nearly 300,000 parts per trillion in groundwater at the former NASJRB Willow Grove base in Horsham, drawing audible surprise from a crowd of a few dozen. Attendees of the meeting, held quarterly by officials to discuss ongoing environmental issues at the base, also criticized the military on the speed of PFAS cleanup and heard more details from state Department of Health officials on an upcoming blood testing program.

The revelation that 300,000 ppt of PFAS chemicals had been found in groundwater came during a presentation of the Air National Guard, which still operates the Horsham Air Guard Station in a corner of the former Willow Grove station. The Air National Guard is responsible for cleanup on that base, while the Navy is responsible for cleanup on the rest of its former property. Both areas previously used firefighting foams that contained the PFAS compounds and led to the environmental contamination.


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For the entire article, see
http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20180316/public-needles-military-on-chemical-cleanup-state-details-blood-testing

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org