The number of U.S. military bases and facilities with known or suspected PFAS contamination has grown to nearly 700, according to a recent report published by the Environmental Working Group.  This latest increase adds an additional 27 military installations to the number reported just one month earlier by the Department of Defense (DoD). 

Every state in the country now has at least one DoD site with known or suspected PFAS contamination. Many states have many DoD PFAS sites, including New York, North Carolina, Michigan, California, Oregon, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. 

To lead the challenges associated with widespread PFAS contamination, the Department of Defense created a PFAS Task Force. The DoD PFAS Task Force released a Progress Report on March 13, 2020 to address its efforts to address PFAS contamination and planned efforts. The DoD PFAS Task Force’s priorities include:

• Ensuring consistent investigation and cleanup of past releases;

• Researching a PFAS-free firefighting foam;

• Providing information on health effects to DOD stakeholders; and

• Coordinating DOD efforts with other federal agencies.

DoD PFAS sites are being evaluated and investigated at military installations for the all branches, including the army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, air national guard, and the army national guard. Congressional leaders throughout the country are increasing pressure on the DoD to do more to address, investigate, monitor, and remediate PFAS contamination.

Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are fluorinated organic chemicals, which include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS).  PFAS chemicals are known as “forever chemicals” because they are persistent and bioaccumulate. Persistent means they do not break down in the environment and bioaccumulate refers to the process of building up over time in the blood and organs.

Merit Laboratories maintains DoD ELAP accreditation and is designated as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE). Merit Laboratories is a leading national PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices, including biosolids and sludge. 

Analytical methods performed by Merit for PFAS include drinking water by EPA 533, EPA 537.1, and EPA 537 rev. 1.1 and soil, wastewater, groundwater, and surface water by ASTM D7979 with Isotopic Dilution. Contact Merit Laboratories to learn more how about we can assist you in achieving your SBE and WBE subcontracting goals by partnering with us for environmental laboratory testing services.