Luke Air Force Base is investigating PFAS water contamination beyond its immediate area

The U.S. Air Force is trying to delineate how far and at what concentration a "forever chemical" called PFAS has shed from the base’s fire training area to the surrounding West Valley area.

In recent years, West Valley residents may have learned a chemical known as polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS was in high concentrations in wells or sites near Luke Air Force Base north of Litchfield Park and Goodyear.

The chemical doesn’t break down over time and can build up in the environment and blood of humans. According to the state, the chemical has been detected around Luke and other areas and was used as a firefighting agent for highly volatile military planes and equipment.

According to a November interview with Luke Air Force Base officials, the Air Force has acknowledged much of the pollution stems from a firefighting training area watershed and possible seepage into a wastewater treatment plant.

Kimberly Horsley, testoration project manager for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, said the base can categorically tie firefighting training and a training area to PFAS spread.

“We have a surface water runoff as a mechanism from the firefighting training area. That's where a lot of the training activities occurred, where a lot of the (agent) would have been released to the environment during the '80s and '90s. We have mechanisms to explain that,” she said. “It could have gotten to the wastewater treatment plant on Glendale and El Mirage Road. It could have gone south to the water features south of the base as surface runoff.”

In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency determined the maximum acceptable level of PFOS for drinking water was 200 parts per trillion (ppt), and the maximum acceptable level for PFOA was 400 ppt. PFOS and PFOA are part of a larger group of chemicals under the PFAS family.

In 2016, that standard was lowered to 70 ppt for PFAS-related agents.

In 2018 and 2019, the Air Force and state officials discovered Valley Utilities’ well east of the base and in the Litchfield Park ZIP code was above the EPA tolerance of 70 ppt.

The standard was established in 2016, two to three years before discovery.

In 2019, Luke Air Force Base, in the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, took approximately 1,500 residences off their water supply after identifying more than 70 parts per trillion in drinking water infrastructure.

According to Air Force representatives, from that discovery point in 2019 to 2021, it found three additional Valley Utilities wells that were over the threshold of 70 parts per trillion.

At former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, a $4.7 million expansion of pump and treat system will help the Air Force reduce PFOS/PFOA, in groundwater migrating to Clark's Marsh from the former base fire training area. Disclamer: The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

In 2021, Liberty Utilities installed a facility to filter out PFAS agents from its wells. Liberty Utilities has historically provided water to north Goodyear communities.

“We're very confident at this point to say that no one in the area is drinking water over 70 ppt,” Horsley said.

A new standard

In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed levels for PFOA and PFOS to be 4 parts per trillion each. 

The proposed tolerance lowering essentially puts many water wells in the greater Goodyear and Litchfield Park area out of tolerance.

The Air Force considers 1980 to be a conservative timestamp of potential cross-contamination, some 26 years before the 70 ppt standard. However, much of that cross-contamination is well below the current but not proposed 2024 EPA standard.

Wastewater mixing, water distribution system sharing and water shed all call into question the level at which the agent may have spread throughout the Valley. 

Simple wastewater treatment does not eliminate the chemical.

According to Liberty President Moses Thompson, the utility company currently and previously has had an active interconnect agreement with the city of Goodyear.  Opensource state records also show plain water-sharing agreements.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

“Liberty currently has an interconnect agreement with the city of Goodyear that allows Liberty to take an additional 700 gallons per minute at 65 psi to address increased customer water usage due to high temperatures,” he wrote to the Arizona Corporation Commission in a Sept. 1 letter.

Thompson also told the ACC his company has connections and provides effluent water to the following Goodyear stakeholders: the city of Goodyear, Pebble Creek Golf Course and Goodyear’s Palm Valley Golf Course.

Since the Goodyear Independent reported on the possible reach of PFAS into the Goodyear area in September, the city has reportedly explored legal considerations revolving around that scenario.

“The Goodyear City Council met Nov. 13, to discuss potentially joining a class-action lawsuit having to do with the impacts of PFAS in communities,” it said in a statement. “Many other communities nationwide are considering possible legal action. While there are no immediate concerns about unsafe levels of PFAS in Goodyear’s water supply, the city is considering joining the legal efforts to mitigate any future impacts of the substance to our community.”

In November, Horsley said the Air Force was testing groundwater in the municipalities surrounding Luke Air Force Base by installing monitoring wells.  Four ground monitoring wells will be installed this winter, which will be sampled at least twice a year. Some areas they're targeting to expand into include Glendale and Goodyear, according to the base.

Greater Litchfield Park and north Goodyear showing proposed and already tested wells for forever chemical PFAS. (U.S. Air Force)

According to a DoD public record, wells in Avondale are below the current 70 ppt standard but fall into the 10 ppt realm. That realm, however, would exceed the proposed EPA standard.

Due to federal laws, the U.S. Air Force, Department of Defense, and the federal government cannot be found legally liable for PFAS or environmentally related harm to communities.

The federal government and judicial system see it as a private legal concern.

Recent litigation has found DuPont and 3M, principal manufacturers of PFAS agents, liable for pollution nationwide. Many municipalities have been awarded damages, but still some are reluctant to accept settlement amounts in the billions since personal injury claims from neglect may be forthcoming.

Sean Clements from Air Force Public Affairs said senior leaders believe it’ll become a bigger concern as PFAS awareness spreads.

“You'll see in the next couple of years. It's going to become bigger and bigger; we think, as the issue gets more well-understood by the public,” he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the blood of nearly all Americans is contaminated with PFAS. Studies also show exposure to very low levels of PFAS can increase cancer risk and harm fetal development.

PFAS legalese

A December impact report submitted to Washington state lawmakers from the ecology department proposed bans and reporting requirements for PFAS and related toxic chemicals.

The report comes after discoveries of mass PFAS contamination in the environmentally focused state’s drinking water supply.

According to Arizona Department of Environmental Quality databases, cities such as Tucson and Peoria also have higher concentrations of PFAS. This means exposure could be linked to local municipal airports, commercial pollution or substandard industrial waste practices, not just the Air Force.

In November, a coalition of cities and towns objected to a proposed class-action settlement for $11 billion against 3M and DuPont.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim the terms were too broad and could incorrectly release 3M and DuPont from future liability over PFAS pollution. Other categories of potential liability may include remediation of soil, wastewater and personal injury claims, according to the cities.

In August, 3M secured approval for a $10.3 billion deal, settling claims by water providers and companies that claimed the company polluted its drinking water with PFAS.