[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: Groundwater Contamination At Sioux City National Guard Base (IA)

[Lenny Siegel]

Military Report Shows Groundwater Contamination At Sioux City National Guard Base 

By KATE PAYNE
Iowa Public Radio
February 19, 2019

Preliminary results from a U.S. military analysis show high levels of groundwater contamination at the Air National Guard Base in Sioux City. Authors of the report suspect toxic chemicals known as PFAS could be migrating off site. The substances are thought to be from the use of certain firefighting foams that have been used at the base.

Preliminary results from a series of soil and water tests conducted at the Air National Guard Base seven miles south of downtown Sioux City show chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are seeping into the soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater. According to the 70-page Air National Guard report, at some testing sites analysts found PFAS concentrations at a level that could impact human health.

Analysts found the amount of PFAS in the groundwater at one hotspot near the base’s main hangar is more than 100 times the health advisory set by the federal government. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance announced in 2016, PFAS in drinking water should not exceed 70 parts per trillion. According to the report, analysts detected levels of 8,610 parts per trillion at one groundwater well. Six out of the eight groundwater wells tested showed levels above the EPA health advisory, and one of two surface water samples was also above the limit.

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For the entire article, see
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/military-report-shows-groundwater-contamination-sioux-city-national-guard-base#stream/0

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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