The United States Department of Defense (DoD) continues to track PFAS contamination progress at over 700 military installations throughout the country. In the DoD’s latest update, the list of sites includes bases and facilities in all 50 states and several U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Military branches on the list of installations being tracked include operations by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. National Guard Bureau, and U.S. Marine Corps.

The DoD is using the following status updates for each of the military installations on the list:

• Performance Assessment (PA)/Site Investigation (SI) Underway

• PA SI Completed/Remedial Investigation (RI) Planned

• PA/SI Completed/RI Underway

• PA/SI and RI Underway

• PA/SI Completed/No Further Action

The DoD conducts cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). According to a June 2022 report released by the DoD, the DoD is taking action to reduce the risks of PFAS exposure to human health by following the CERCLA process to address releases to the environment resulting from DoD activities. The report states that the DoD has obligated $1.02 billion through FY 2021 and plans to obligate $260.2 million in FY 2022 to address its PFAS releases. DoD plans to obligate an additional $734.7 million after FY 2022 to address PFAS releases. The DoD acknowledges in the report that this estimate is expected to increase as the DoD Components complete initial assessments and determine what cleanup actions are required.

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. 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.